SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.22 número1Maternity roost of Eptesicus brasiliensis in a liana in the southeast peruvian AmazonA new tribe of sigmodontinae rodents (cricetidae) índice de autoresíndice de assuntospesquisa de artigos
Home Pagelista alfabética de periódicos  

Serviços Personalizados

Journal

Artigo

Indicadores

  • Não possue artigos citadosCitado por SciELO

Links relacionados

Compartilhar


Mastozoología neotropical

versão impressa ISSN 0327-9383versão On-line ISSN 1666-0536

Mastozool. neotrop. vol.22 no.1 Mendoza jun. 2015

 

NOTA

Macrophyllum macrophyllum (chiroptera, phyllostomidae) in the brazilian caatinga scrublands: river basins as potential routes of dispersal in xeric ecosystems

 

Anderson Feijó1, Patrício A. Rocha1, 2, Jefferson Mikalauskas3, and Stephen F. Ferrari2

1 Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, 58059-900 João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil [correspondence: Anderson Feijó <andekson@gmail.com>].
2 Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Departamento de Ecologia, 49100-000 São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil.
3 Laboratório de Mastozoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, BR 465, km 7, 23890-000 Seropédica, RJ, Brazil.

Recibido 18 julio 2014.
Aceptado 12 noviembre 2014.
Editor asociado: R Gregorin


ABSTRACT.

We present the first record of Macrophyllum macrophyllum in the Brazilian Caatinga. The foraging strategy of this species, mainly over water, is consistent with the lack of records for the semi-arid Caatinga biome. During a survey in the municipality of Paripiranga, in northern Bahia, an adult male of M. macrophyllum was captured on 27th March 2012 (dry season) on the margin of the Vaza-Barris River. Given its ecological and behavioral adaptations, it seems likely that M. macrophyllum occurs only in association with the principal perennial rivers of the Caatinga. Further research may confirm that Macrophyllum is more widespread in the Caatinga, but likely restricted to local corridors of habitat associated with the region's perennial rivers.

RESUMO.

Macrophyllum macrophyllum (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) na Caatinga brasileira: bacias hidrográficas como potenciais rotas de dispersão em ecossistemas xéricos.

Nós apresentamos o primeiro registro de Macrophyllum macrophyllum na Caatinga. A estratégia de forrageio desta espécie, principalmente sobre a água, é consistente com a ausência de registros para o bioma semiárido brasileiro. Durante um levantamento no município de Paripiranga, no norte do estado da Bahia, um macho adulto de M. macrophyllum foi capturado em 27 de março de 2012 (estação seca) as margens do rio Vaza-Barris. Considerando sua adaptação ecológica e comportamental parece provável que M. macrophyllum ocorra apenas ao longo dos principais rios perenes da Caatinga. Futuras pesquisas podem confirmar se Macrophyllum possui uma distribuição mais ampla na Caatinga, embora provavelmente restrito a corredores de habitat associados com rios perenes.

Key words: Brazilian northeast; Long-legged bat; Perennial rivers.

Palavras chave: Morcego de pernas longas; Nordeste do Brasil; Rios perenes.


Macrophyllum macrophyllum (Schinz, 1821) is the only representative of the phyllostomid genus Macrophyllum Gray, 1838, which is easily recognized by the longitudinal rows of dermal projections found on the ventral-distal portion of the uropatagium (Harrison, 1975). The species is distributed between Misiones in northern Argentina and southern Mexico (Williams and Genoways, 2008), although in Brazil, localities are concentrated in the Amazon and Atlantic rainforest biomes, with only a few records from peripheral areas of the Cerrado savanna (Fig. 1).


Fig. 1. Recording localities for Macrophyllum macrophyllum in relation to the principal rivers of northeastern Brazil; sites are numbered as in Table 1. Circles = previous records; star = new record in the Caatinga biome.

Macrophyllum is the only insectivorous phyllostomid that hunts over water (Weinbeer and Kalko, 2007). Its foraging behavior is characterized by long flights, which combine the typical gleaning habits of other insectivorous phyllostomids with the aerial hawking characteristic of the insectivorous bats of other families (Meyer et al., 2005). This combination of foraging techniques is unique among the phyllostomids, and enables Macrophyllum to locate and capture insects over bodies of water (Meyer et al., 2005).

A review of the available records (Table 1) indicates that Macrophyllum had not previously been reported from the semi-arid Caatinga scrublands of the Brazilian Northeast, presumably due to the fact that this species is associated with rainforest habitats and in particular, watercourses (Harrison, 1975; Williams and Genoways, 2008), which are scarce and intermittent in the Caatinga. The present study nevertheless presents evidence of the occurrence of Macrophyllum in the Caatinga, and discusses possible dispersal routes for the species within this biome.

Table 1 Recording localities for Macrophyllum macrophyllum; code numbers refer to the points shown in Fig. 1.

The Caatinga is a mosaic of deciduous xeric thorn scrub and forest that covers most of northeastern Brazil. Given the intense anthropogenic impact over recent decades, most areas can be characterized as open woodland or scrub (Leal et al., 2005). During a survey in the municipality of Paripiranga (10°32'38.2” S, 37°57'22.8” W), in northern Bahia state, an adult male of M. macrophyllum was captured on 27th March 2012 (dry season) with mist nets (12.0 m x 2.5 m) set on the margin of the Vaza-Barris River at ground level. The region is dominated by agricultural plantations (mainly cassava and maize), with some fragments of low Caatinga scrub (sensu Mares et al., 1981) mainly along the riverbanks (Fig. 2).


Fig. 2. Site of the capture of the Macrophyllum macrophyllum specimen on the Vaza-Barris River in Paripiranga, Bahia, Brazil (left) and typical gallery forest in the region (right).

The specimen was handled in accordance with the recommendations of Sikes et al. (2011), being fixed in 10% formaldehyde and then preserved in 70% ethanol prior to the extraction of the skull. The standard body and cranial measurements were taken and the specimen was deposited in the mammal collection of the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB 6552) in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.

The specimen presents all the diagnostic morphological characteristics of Macrophyllum described by Harrison (1975). The rostrum is short and the braincase wide and well developed, taking up approximately two-thirds of the total volume of the cranium. The nasal bone is short and rectangular and the zygomatic arches converge sharply towards the front. The palate is slightly rounded and extends slightly beyond the last upper molar. The foramen magnum is exceptionally large and the occipital condyles relatively small. In a lateral view, there is an abrupt elevation of the dorsal region after the nasal bones, the braincase having an extremely convex dorsal profile. The pre-maxillary bones extend beyond the nasal bones, and the mandible presents an elongated body with a straight ventral profile. The anterior edge of the coronoid process is slightly inclined and has a rounded vertex. The condyloid process is rounded and slightly above the main body of the mandible. The dental formula is I 2/2 C 1/1 PM 2/3 M 3/3. The internal upper incisors are spatulate, while the external incisors are diminutive and close to the former. The first premolar is much larger than the second. The molars have w-shaped cusps, and the M3 is half the size of the other upper molars. The lower incisors are small with a trifid upper edge. The second lower molar is small and displaced labially in relation to the rest of the dental series (see illustration in Harrison, 1975). The molars have high cusps, and the m3 is slightly smaller than the others (Fig. 3). The external and cranial measurements (in millimeters) are: body length = 37.4; tail length = 38.2; hindfoot length = 12.5; ear length = 18.7; forearm length = 35; tragus length = 6.7; calcaneus length = 16.9; skull length = 15.9; condylobasal length = 13.6; palate length = 5.8; palate breadth = 3.2; mastoid breadth = 8.4; zygomatic breadth = 8.4; braincase breadth = 7.8; postorbital breadth = 3.3; breadth across canines = 3.1; breadth across molars = 6.0; maxillary toothrow = 5.3; mandible length = 9.5; mandibular toothrow = 6.2.


Fig. 3. Dorsal, ventral and lateral (right side) views of the skull and lateral (right side) of the mandible of Macrophyllum macrophyllum (UFPB 6552) collected on the Vaza-Barris River in Paripiranga, Bahia, Brazil; in detail, the frontal view of the skull. Scale bar = 4 mm.

The species' habit of capturing prey over water is shared with only a few other Neotropical bats, including the noctilionids, the emballonurid Rhynchonycteris naso, and a few vespertilionids (Weinbeer et al., 2006; Weinbeer and Kalko, 2007), although their insect prey is typically smaller than that of other gleaners (Meyer et al., 2005). M. macrophyllum appears to forage exclusively over water, and there is no evidence that the species forages in other habitats, such as forests (Harrison, 1975; Meyer et al., 2005; Williams and Genoways, 2008). This habitat preference is consistent with the lack of records of the species from the semi-arid Brazilian Caatinga, where most rivers are not only small in size, but tend to dry up altogether during the prolonged dry season (Maltchik, 1999).

While M. macrophyllum has usually been associated with forest formations (Anderson and Webster, 1983; Williams and Genoways, 2008), the species has been recorded in deciduous dry forest in Panama (Handley, 1966) and Guatemala (Seymour and Dickerman, 1982), although it seems likely that the distribution of the species is limited by the availability of perennial rivers, as in the case of Paripiranga (Fig. 3). While the Vaza-Barris is a small river —approximately 50 m wide—it is perennial and inserted within a narrow strip of gallery forest, which presumably offers the local Macrophyllum population with favorable conditions for foraging and roosting.

Bats of this species may fly up to 50 km in a single night (Weinbeer et al., 2006), although home ranges appear to be of the order of 24 hectares (Meyer et al., 2005), and they roost in a variety of locations, including caves, roofs, and even drains (Williams and Genoways, 2008). Given its ecological and behavioral adaptations, it seems likely that M. macrophyllum may oc­cur along the principal perennial rivers of the Caatinga, many of which, like the Vaza-Barris, cross the region's coastal rainforest ecosystems to discharge into the Atlantic Ocean. While the Vaza-Barris extends for only another 200 km into the Caatinga, the nearby São Francisco River, which forms the northern border of Bahia state, is not only very much larger (2800 km long), but also traverses the Caatinga to reach the central Brazilian Cerrado savannas to the south and west (Fig. 1), thus providing a major potential corridor for the dispersal of the species.

It seems likely that further research will confirm that M. macrophyllum is more widespread in the Caatinga, although the species is probably restricted to local corridors of habitat associated with the region's perennial rivers. This distribution pattern may have contributed to the lack of records of this species in previous studies in the Caatinga. Ongoing deforestation in the region may not only be further reducing the habitat available for the species, but also contributing to the conversion of many perennial rivers to more intermittent watercourses, especially during the prolonged dry season (Maltchik, 1999), which would have a negative effect on M. macrophyllum populations. While M. macrophyllum is not under any risk of extinction (Rodriguez and Piñeda, 2008), deforestation is considered to be a threat to local populations, which may be accentuated in the fragile ecosystem of the semi-arid Caatinga.

Acknowledgments.

We are grateful to Jadson Brito for technical assistance. AF and PAR were supported by graduate stipends from CAPES. SFF (processes 302747/2008-7 and 483220/2013) and PAR (501701/2013-3) thank CNPq for research stipends. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the original version of this manuscript.

LITERATURE CITED

1. ANDERSON S and WD WEBSTER. 1983. Notes on Bolivian mammals. 1. Additional records of bats. American Museum Novitates 2766:1-3.         [ Links ]

2. ALLEN JA. 1900. List of bats collected by Mr. H. H. Smith in the Santa Marta Region of Colombia, with descriptions of new species. Bulletin American Museum of Natural History 13:87-94.         [ Links ]

3. BERNARD E, ALKM ALBERNAZ, and WE MAGNUSSON. 2001. Bat species composition in three locaties in the Amazon Basin. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 36:177-184.         [ Links ]

4. BERNAD E and MB FENTON. 2002. Species diversity of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in forest fragments, primary forests and savannas in Central Amazonia, Brazil. Canadian Journal of Zoology 80:1124-1140.         [ Links ]

5. CAMARGO G, E FISCHER, F GONÇALVES, G FERNANDES, and S FERREIRA. 2009. Morcegos do Parque Nacional da Serra da Bodoquena, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Chiroptera Neotropical 15:417-424.         [ Links ]

6. CARVALHO WD, LN FREITAS, GP FREITAS, JL LUZ, LM COSTA, and CE ESBÉRARD. 2011. Efeito da chuva na captura de captura de morcegos em uma ilha da costa sul do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Chiroptera Neotropical 17:808-816.         [ Links ]

7. ENGSTROM MD and BK LIM. 2002. Mamíferos de Guyana. Pp.329–375, in: Diversidad y conservacíon de los mamíferos neotropicales (G Ceballos and JA Simonetti, eds.). Mexico, DF: CONABIO-UNAM.

8. DIAS PA, CLC SANTOS, FS RODRIGUES, LC ROSA, KS LOBATO, and JMM REBÊLO. 2009. Espécies de moscas ectoparasitas (Diptera, Hippoboscoidea) de morcegos (Mammalia, Chiroptera) no estado do Maranhão. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 53:128-133.         [ Links ]

9. FARIA D, B SOARES-SANTOS, and E SAMPAIO. 2006. Bats from the Atlantic rainforest of southern Bahia, Brazil. Biota Neotropica 6(2):1-13.         [ Links ]

10. FEIJÓ JA and A LANGGUTH 2011. Lista de Quirópteros da Paraíba, com 25 novos registros. Chiroptera Neotropical 17:1055-1062.         [ Links ]

11. FENTON MB, E BERNARD, S BOUCHARD, L. HOLLIS, PS JOHNSTON, CL LAUSEN, JM RATCLIFFE, DK RISKIN, JR TAYLOR, and J ZIGOURIS. 2001. The bat fauna of Lamanai, Belize: Roots and trophic roles. Journal of Tropical Ecology 17:511-524.         [ Links ]

12. GENOWAYS HH and RM TIMM 2005. Mammals of the Consiguina península of Nicarágua. Mastozoología Neotropical 12:153-179.         [ Links ]

13. GIANNINI NP and EKV KALKO. 2004. Trophic structure in a large assemblage of Phyllostomid bats in Panama. Oikos 105:209-220.         [ Links ]

14. HANDLEY CO Jr. 1966. Checklist of the mammals of Panama. Pp. 753-795, in: Ectoparasites of Panama (RL Wenzel and VJ Tipton, eds.). Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History.         [ Links ]

15. HARRISON DL. 1975. Macrophyllum macrophyllum. Mammalian Species 62:1-3.         [ Links ]

16. KOOPMAN KF.1978. Zoogeography of Peruvian Bats, with special emphasis on the role of the Andes. American Museum Novitates 2651:1-33.         [ Links ]

17. LEAL IR, JMCA SILVA, M TABARELLI, and T LACHER Jr. 2005. Mudando o curso da conservação da biodiversidade na Caatinga do nordeste do Brasil. Megadiversidade 1:139-146.         [ Links ]

18. LIM BK and MD ENGSTRON. 2001. Species diversity of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in Iwokrama Forest, Guyana, and the Guianan Subregion: Implications for conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation 10:613-657.         [ Links ]

19. MALTCHIK L. 1999. Ecologia de rios intermitentes tropicais. Pp. 77-89, in: Perspectivas da limnologia no Brasil (LM Marcelo and LM Pompeo, eds.). São Luís: Gráfica e editora União.         [ Links ]

20. MARES MA, MR WILLIG, KE STREILEIN, and TE LACHER. 1981. The mammals of northeastern Brazil: A preliminary assessment. Annals of Carnegie Museum 50:81-137.         [ Links ]

21. MARQUES-AGUIAR SA, GFS AGUIAR, KTM ROSA and RTD FONSECA. 2007. Conhecimento atual sobre a quiropterofauna (Mammalia, Chiroptera) do Parque Ambiental de Belém, Pará, Brasil. Anais do VIII Congresso de Ecologia do Brasil 1-3.         [ Links ]

22. MARQUES-AGUIAR SA, CCS MELO, GFS AGUIAR, and JAL QUEIROZ 2002. Levantamento preliminar da mastofauna da região de Arajás-Muaná, Ilha de Marajó, Pará, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 19:841-854.         [ Links ]

23. MEYER CFJ, M WEINBEER, and EKV KALKO. 2005. Home range size and spacing patterns of Macrophyllum macrophyllum (Phyllostomidae) foraging over water. Journal of Mammalogy 86:587-598.         [ Links ]

24. MIRETZKI M. 2003. Morcegos do estado do Paraná (Mammalia, Chiroptera): Riqueza de espécies, distribuição e síntese do conhecimento atual. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43(6):101-138.         [ Links ]

25. PERACCHI AL, SDL RAIMUNDO, and AM TANNURE. 1984. Quirópteros do Território Federal do Amapá, Brasil (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Arquivos Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro 7:89-100.         [ Links ]

26. QUINTANA H, V PACHECO, and E SALAS. 2009. Diversity and conservation of mammals of Ucayali, Peru. Ecología Aplicada 8(1-2):91-103.         [ Links ]

27. REIS NR and HOR SCHUBART. 1979. Notas preliminares sobre os morcegos do Parque nacional da Amazônia (Médio Tapajós). Acta Amazonica 9:507-515.         [ Links ]

28. REIS NR. 1984. Estrutura de comunidades de morcegos na região de Manaus, Amazonas. Revista Brasileira de Biologia 44:247-254         [ Links ]

29. ROCHA PA, JS MIKALAUSKAS, SF GOUVEIA, V VILAS-BÔAS, and AL PERACCHI. 2010. Morcegos (Mammalia,Chiroptera) capturados no campus da Universidade Federal de Sergipe, com oito novos registros para o estado. Biota Neotropica 10:183-188.         [ Links ]

30. RODRIGUEZ B and W PINEDA. 2008. Macrophyllum macrophyllum. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 June 2014.         [ Links ]

31. SEYMOUR C and RW DICKERMAN. 1982. Observations on the Long-legged Bat Macrophyllum macrophyllum in Guatemala. Journal of Mammalogy 63:530-532.         [ Links ]

32. SIKES RS,WL GANNON, and THE ANIMAL CARE AND USE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS. 2011. Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research. Journal of Mammalogy 92:235-253.         [ Links ]

33. SORIANO PJ. 2000. Functional structure of bat communities in tropical rainforest and Andean cloud forests. Ecotropicos 13(1):1-20         [ Links ]

34. STUTZ WH, MC ALBUQUERQUE, W UIEDA, EM MACEDO, and CB FRANÇA. 2004. Update list of Uberlândia bats (Minas Gerais State, Southeastrn Brazil). Chiroptera Neotropical 10:188-190.         [ Links ]

35. VIEIRA COC. 1955. Lista remissiva dos mamíferos do Brasil. Arquivos Zoologia 8:341-474.         [ Links ]

36. VOSS RS and LH EMMONS. 1996. Mammalian diversity in Neotropical lowland rainforest: A preliminary assessment. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 230:1-115.         [ Links ]

37. WEINBEER M, CFJ MEYER, and EKV KALKO. 2006. Activity pattern of the trawling Phyllostomid bat Macrophyllum macrophyllum in Panama. Biotropica 38:69-76.         [ Links ]

38. WEINBEER M and EKV KALKO. 2007. Ecological niche and phylogeny: The highly complex echolocation behaviour of the trawling Long-legged Bat Macrophyllum macrophyllum. Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology 61:1337-1348.         [ Links ]

39. WILLIAMS SL and HH GENOWAYS. 2008. Subfamily Phyllostominae Gray, 1825. Pp. 255-300, in: Mammals of South America. Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats (AL Gardner, ed.). Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.         [ Links ]

40. WILSON DE and IG FOX. 1991. El murciélago Macrophyllum macrophyllum (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) en Paraguay. Boletín del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural 10:33-35.         [ Links ]

 

Creative Commons License Todo o conteúdo deste periódico, exceto onde está identificado, está licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons