Tonatia maresi Williams, Willig & Reid, 1995

Basantes, Mateo, Tinoco, Nicolas, Velazco, Paul M., Hofmann, Melinda J., Rodriguez-Posada, Miguel E. & Camacho, M. Alejandra, 2020, Systematics and Taxonomy of Tonatia saurophila Koopman & Williams, 1951 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), ZooKeys 915, pp. 59-86 : 59

Tonatia maresi Williams, Willig & Reid, 1995

Tonatia saurophila maresi Williams et al. 1995: 623.

Tonatia saurophilla Falcão et al. 2005: 222; incorrect subsequent spelling of T. saurophila Koopman & Williams, 1951.

Holotype.

Adult female, deposited at the Museum of Texas Tech University (TTU 9774), collected on 12 July 1969 by R. J. Baker (original field number 318) in Blanchisseuse, Trinidad and Tobago. Prepared as skin, skull, and partial postcranial skeleton by S. L. Williams. No paratypes were designated by Williams et al. (1995), but several specimens from Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador were listed and used in the description.

Distribution.

Tonatia maresi is restricted to South America. It occurs in Venezuela (east and south of Cordillera de Mérida), the Guianas, northeastern Brazil, and along the upper Amazon basin of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, as well as in the South American islands of Trinidad and Tobago (Fig. 7 ).

Diagnosis.

Tonatia maresi is distinguished from other extant species of Tonatia by its smaller craniodental and external measurements. The measurements that explain most of the variability are postorbital constriction length, mastoid width, and upper canine width. The skin around the mouth, nose leaf, and warts of the lower lip present a dark coloration. The posterior edge of the cranium presents a blunt vertex due to the poorly developed sagittal process, mandibular condyles are gracile, the canine and the first lower premolar are separated by a diastema, and the clinoid process is poorly developed or absent (Figs 3b, d , 4b, d ). The measurements of the holotype, taken from Williams et al. (1995), as well as the averages of the external craniodental and external measurements of the specimens analyzed in this study are presented in Table 2 .

Description.

The holotype has dark gray-brown dorsal fur with patches of hair having reddish tips (bicolored). The hairs on the shoulder have white tips and, like the hairs behind the ears and around the base of the neck, present a white base (tricolored). The hairs on the top of head have white tips forming a pale stripe between the ears. Ventral pelage is grayer, and paler, than the dorsal hair and has white tips. The throat region has a uniformly colored hair. The body is densely furred, with the dorsal hairs longer (12.0 mm) than the ventral hairs (5.5 mm). The forearm presents shorter hairs on the proximal half of its length, with the ventral surface being more densely furred. Short, sparse hairs occur on the inner margins of the ventral surfaces of the uropatagium and the wing membranes; short hairs also occur on the thumbs and feet. The skull of holotype is complete, and in perfect condition.

Comparisons.

Specimens of Tonatia maresi are smaller than those of T. bakeri and T. bidens . Additionally, T. maresi can be distinguished from T. bakeri by its wider breadth across the lower incisors ( Williams et al. 1995), by the presence of a blunt vertex in the posterior edge of the braincase due to a poorly developed sagittal process, delicate mandibular condyles, the presence of a space between the canine and the first lower molar, observable in the mandible body (lateral view), and the lacking or poorly developed clinoid process (Figs 3b, d , 4b, d ). The coloration of the dorsal pelage on T. maresi is dark and usually presents patches of hair with reddish tips; while in T. bakeri it is light and uniform in color. The warts on the lower lip are darker in T. maresi than in T. bakeri .

Etymology.

The name maresi was coined in recognition to Michael A. Mares for his contributions to the systematics, ecology, and zoogeography of South American mammals ( Williams et al. 1995).

Remarks.

Little is known about its natural history. The diet of Tonatia includes various arthropods such as crickets, cicadas, and spiders. Additionally, they consume fruit, and small vertebrates such as lizards and birds ( Tirira 2017). The species roosts in hollow trees, forming monospecific groups, or multispecific groups with other bat species ( Williams and Genoways 2008). Recently, three species of ectoparasites ( Mastoptera minuta , Pseudostrebla greenwelli , and Strebla tonatiae : family Streblidae ) were found in specimens of Tonatia in the Reserva Natural La Palmita, Department of Casanare, in the Colombian Llanos. This locality occurs within the range of T. maresi ( Liévano-Romero et al. 2019).

Figures

Figure 3. Illustrations showing the differences of the posterior edge of the cranium and the mandibular condyle between Tonatia bakeri and T. maresi. In the dorsal view of the skull, arrows point to the posterior border of the cranium in a T. bakeri and b T. maresi. In the occlusal view of the mandible, arrows point the mandibular condyle of c T. bakeri and d T. maresi.

Figure 4. Differences in the separation of the canine with respect to the first premolar, and the development of the clinoid process between Tonatia bakeri and T. maresi. Illustrations of the lateral view of the mandible, arrows indicate the separation between the canine and the first premolar in a T. bakeri and b T. maresi. In the posterior basioccipital view, arrows indicate the clinoid process in c T. bakeri (QCAZ 9754) and d T. maresi (QCAZ 4972).

Figure 7. Geographic distribution of Tonatia saurophila †, T. bakeri, and T. maresi. Map of Central and South America showing the geographical distribution of T. saurophila † (subfossil records, Jamaica, type locality), T. bakeri, and T. maresi. Modified from Williams and Genoways (2008), and based on the localities of the specimens included in this study.