Mormoopid bats from Brazil: updates on the geographic distribution of three species and their echolocation calls

Mormoopids are a small group of insectivorous bats largely distributed from the southwestern United States throughout Central and South America. They occupy a wide variety of habitats, and in Brazil have usually been associated with habitats in the Amazon, Cerrado, or Caatinga biomes. Nevertheless, most of the information compiled so far to infer their distributional limits is based on roosting colonies occasionally found in caves or on inventories using bat mist netting, which is known to be an ineffective method for capturing aerial insectivorous bats. In this contribution, we present new occurrence records of mormoopid bats based on acoustic surveys in the Caatinga and Cerrado biomes and make an extensive literature review to provide an up-to-date distribution of these bats in Brazil. We additionally describe important parameters of the echolocation calls of mormoopids across the geographical scope of our study, contrasting our data with published information to provide a better overview of the intraspecific acoustic variation of these bat species. Our acoustic data reveal a larger area of occurrence of mormoopids in Brazil than previously known, confirming new records for two states.

Flying Over Amazonian Waters: The Role of Rivers on the Distribution and Endemism Patterns of Neotropical Bats

The Amazon comprises many of the largest rivers in the planet and also houses some of the richest bat communities in the world. Rivers are important geographic barriers for the dispersal and distribution of different taxa worldwide and, particularly in the Amazon region, they form the conceptual and empirical bases for the recognition of the so-called Areas of Endemism of terrestrial vertebrates. Despite the vast literature on the role of rivers on vertebrate community structure in the Amazon Forest, this process has never been investigated using a comprehensive dataset of Neotropical bat communities in the region. In this study, we aimed at: (1) evaluating the patterns of bat endemism across the Amazon Forest; (2) testing for the relationship between the distribution of bat species in the Amazon and the interfluve Areas of Endemism as currently recognized, and; (3) analyzing the importance of major Amazonian rivers in bat beta-diversity (turnover and nestedness) in the Amazon. Our results indicate that rivers are not major barriers for the current distribution of most bat species, and bat community composition breaks were divided into two clusters separating the east and west regions, and a third cluster in northern Amazon. In addition, there was no significant overlap among species distribution limits and the interfluve Areas of Endemism. Interestingly, the geographic patterns that we found for bat communities composition breaks highly resembles the one recovered using bird communities, suggesting that similar ecological and historical drivers might be acting to determine the distribution of flying vertebrates in the Amazon. Moreover, Amazonian bat distribution and endemism patterns were likely shaped by factors other than rivers, such as species interactions and the current environmental conditions. In conclusion, our results highlight the importance of modern analytical approaches to investigate large scale ecological patterns in the Neotropical region, and also challenge the widely recognized role of rivers on the determination of community structure and endemism patterns in the Amazon Forest, at least for bats.

Taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic bat diversity decrease from more to less complex natural habitats in the Amazon

The high levels of biodiversity in the Amazon are maintained mostly due to its composition as a natural mosaic of different habitats, including both unflooded and flooded forests, campinaranas, and savannahs. Here, we compared multiple dimensions of α- and β- bat biodiversity between four natural Amazonian habitats (savannah, campinarana, forest patches, and continuous forest). In addition, we explored the extent to which bat communities in the different habitats are nested within one another, and compared the community-level functional uniqueness and community-weighted mean traits between habitats. Our results show that taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic α-diversity of bats is higher in continuous forest than in any of the other habitat types. The continuous forest also harbours more unique species, and indeed, the bat community assemblages in the less-complex habitats, including forest patches, campinarana and savannahs, are taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic sub-sets of the assemblage found in the continuous forest. By examining β-diversity partitions and species composition, we are able to shed light on the mechanisms behind the variation in diversity between the four habitat types, which reflect a process of environmental sorting along a habitat gradient going from a more complex to a less complex habitat. We conclude that nesting patterns along the mosaic of habitats are determined by differences in complexity between habitats and that taxonomic and functional uniqueness contribute to overall regional bat diversity and functionality. Ongoing human-induced disturbances of these habitats could provoke an unprecedented loss of bat diversity and functionality with negative consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services.

First records of the bats Eumops bonariensis (Chiroptera: Molossidae) and Pteronotus fuscus (Chiroptera: Mormoopidae) in Peru

Herein, based on molecular and morphological evidence, we report the first record of Eumops bonariensis (Peters 1874) and Pteronotus fuscus (Allen 1911) for Peru, representing a range extension of at least 1580 km (to Ucayali department) and 1860 km (to San Martín department) from the nearest records, respectively; and confirm that Pteronotus rubiginosus (Wagner 1843) is absent in Peru. We also provide comments on the taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of these species. This study highlights the importance of exploring unsampled localities and doing detailed morphological studies and extensive use of molecular methods.

Paramyxovirus circulation in bat species from French Guiana

Bats are recognized as reservoirs of numerous viruses. Among them, paramyxoviruses, for example, Hendra and Nipah viruses, are highly pathogenic to humans. Nothing is known regarding the circulation of this viral family in bats from French Guiana. To search for the presence of paramyxoviruses in this territory, 103 bats of seven different species were sampled and screened using a molecular approach. Four distinct paramyxovirus sequences were detected from three bat species (Desmodus rotundus, Carollia perspicillata, and Pteronotus alitonus) at high prevalence rates. In D. rotundus, two types of paramyxovirus co-circulate, with most of the bats co-infected. The phylogenetic analysis of these sequences revealed that three of them were closely related to previously characterized sequences from D. rotundus, C. perspicillata, and P. parnellii from Brazil and Costa Rica. The fourth sequence, identified in D. rotundus, was closely related to the one detected in P. alitonus in French Guiana and to previously described sequences detected in P. parnellii in Costa Rica. All paramyxovirus sequences detected in this study are close to the Jeilongvirus genus. Altogether, our results and those of previous studies indicate a wide geographical distribution of these paramyxoviruses (from Central to South America) and suggest potential cross-species transmissions of paramyxoviruses between two different bat families: Mormoopidae (P. alitonus) and Phyllostomidae (D. rotundus). In addition, their closeness to paramyxoviruses identified in rodents emphasizes the need to investigate the role of these animals as potential reservoirs or incidental hosts. Finally, the high prevalence rates of some paramyxoviruses in certain bat species, associated with the presence of large bat colonies and, in some cases, their potential proximity with humans are all parameters that can contribute to the risk of cross-species transmission between bat species and to the emergence of new paramyxoviruses in humans, a risk that deserves further investigation.

Consequences of Replacing Native Savannahs With Acacia Plantations for the Taxonomic, Functional, and Phylogenetic α- and β-Diversity of Bats in the Northern Brazilian Amazon

Across the globe, millions of hectares of native vegetation have been replaced by commercial plantations, with negative consequences for biodiversity. The effects of the replacement of native vegetation with commercial plantations on the functional and phylogenetic diversity of bat assemblages remain understudied, and most studies have focused exclusively on the taxonomic component of diversity. Here, we investigate how the replacement of natural savannahs by acacia plantations affects the α- and β-diversity of bat assemblages. We sampled bats, using mist-nets at ground level, in natural forest, savannah areas and acacia plantations, in the Lavrados de Roraima in the northern Brazilian Amazon. Our results show that, in general, acacia is less diverse than native forests in terms of taxonomic and functional diversity, and is also less taxonomically diverse than the savannah matrix which it substitutes. The observed patterns of α- and β-diversity found in the present study are in large part driven by the superabundance of one generalist and opportunistic species, Carollia perspicillata, in the acacia plantations. Taken together, our results show that the replacement of areas of natural savannah by acacia plantations causes a regional loss in diversity across all diversity dimensions: taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic. However, further studies are required to fully understand the ecological and conservation implications of this landscape change.

Updated and annotated checklist of recent mammals from Brazil

An updated and annotated checklist of mammals occurring in Brazil is presented. A total of 751 native species, distributed in 249 genera, 51 families and 11 orders were recorded to the country. The Brazilian mammalian fauna shows an elevated rate of endemism (30%; 223 species). Among the species evaluated by IUCN (668 species; 90%), a total of 80 (10.6% of total mammalian fauna) are Threatened, 28 (3.9%) are considered as Near Threatened, two species (0.3%) are presumable Extinct, 96 (12.8%) are considered with Deficient Data for conservation and 462 (61.6%) are considered as Least Concern. Fifteen new species were described since the last national compilation (published in 2017), which associated to new records to the country and synonimizations resulted in an increment of 30 species. Eight non-native species were introduced to the country, including the recently established Asiatic cervids Rusa unicolor (sambar) and Axis axis (chital). Seven native species (five primates and two hystricomorph rodents) have been translocated from their areas of natural occurrence to other areas inside the country.

Temperature, rainfall, and moonlight intensity effects on activity of tropical insectivorous bats

The extrinsic factors that most influence animal activity are weather and light conditions, which can be assessed at hourly, monthly, and even lunar-cycle timescales. We evaluated the responses of tropical aerial-insectivorous bats to temperature, rainfall, and moonlight intensity within and among nights. Temperature positively affected the activity of two species (Cormura brevirostris and Saccopteryx bilineata). Moonlight reduced Myotis riparius activity and increased the activity of Pteronotus rubiginosus and S. leptura. Rainfall can promote an irregular activity peak during the night compared to nights without rainfall, but the bats in our study were not active for a longer time after a rainfall event. Our findings indicate that moonlight and temperature are the variables with the highest impact on the activity of tropical insectivorous bat species and that some species are sensitive to small variations in rainfall among and within nights.

A coalescent-based estimator of genetic drift, and acoustic divergence in the Pteronotus parnellii species complex

Determining the processes responsible for phenotypic variation is one of the central tasks of evolutionary biology. While the importance of acoustic traits for foraging and communication in echolocating mammals suggests adaptation, the seldom-tested null hypothesis to explain trait divergence is genetic drift. Here we derive FST values from multi-locus coalescent isolation-with-migration models, and couple them with estimates of quantitative trait divergence, or PST, to test drift as the evolutionary process responsible for phenotypic divergence in island populations of the Pteronotus parnellii species complex. Compared to traditional comparisons of PST to FST, the migration-based estimates of FST are unidirectional instead of bidirectional, simultaneously integrate variation among loci and individuals, and posterior densities of PST and FST can be compared directly. We found the evolution of higher call frequencies is inconsistent with genetic drift for the Hispaniolan population, despite many generations of isolation from its Puerto Rican counterpart. While the Hispaniolan population displays dimorphism in call frequencies, the higher frequency of the females is incompatible with sexual selection. Instead, cultural drift toward higher frequencies among Hispaniolan females might explain the divergence. By integrating Bayesian coalescent and trait analyses, this study demonstrates a powerful approach to testing genetic drift as the default evolutionary mechanism of trait differentiation between populations.

Streblid bat flies (Diptera) and other ectoparasites on bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from French Guiana

Abstract: Recent field surveys of bats (Chiroptera) in various localities of French Guiana have been accompanied by the collection and preservation of ectoparasites, mainly bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae). Most specimens of ectoparasites was collected haphazardly during the course of bats inventories, but systematic surveys on the whole chiropteran community were realized at five opportunities. Concerning Streblidae, 813 individuals have been examined, which represent 46 species and/or subspecies belonging to 15 genera and 6 taxa for confirmation and/or future description. For Nycteribiidae, 44 individuals of 3 identified species and 2 for confirmation and/or future description. Other ectoparasites have been found (Hemiptera and acarids), which are also listed with details on their bat-host, place and date of collect. For six species of bats in which at least 10 animals were carrying ectoparasites, a brief description of the frequencies of their ectoparasites provides some preliminary characteristics of their infracommunities.

Moscas ectoparasitas (Diptera, Streblidae) de morcegos (Mammalia, Chiroptera) em um remanescente periurbano de Cerrado: composição da comunidade, prevalência, intensidade de infestação e especificidade

RESUMO Moscas Streblidae ocorrem exclusivamente em morcegos e estão mundialmente distribuídas, com uma alta riqueza de moscas e hospedeiros no Brasil. Entretanto, o conhecimento dos aspectos ecológicos dessa relação é limitado à descrição das associações. O objetivo nesse trabalho foi caracterizar a comunidade de moscas ectoparasitas e de seus possíveis padrões de associação em uma área periurbana de Cerrado. Os morcegos foram capturados entre fevereiro e julho de 2011, com um esforço amostral de 9.504 h.m2. Os ectoparasitas foram coletados e identificados. A relação parasito-hospedeiro foi determinada usando índices como prevalência, intensidade média de infestação e especificidade. Capturamos 161 morcegos de sete espécies, dos quais 29,81% (n = 48) apresentaram-se infestados. Encontramos 83 moscas de seis espécies de Streblidae, com duas associações acidentais e oito associações não acidentais. A maior prevalência e intensidade de infestação foram verificadas na associação entre Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) e Trichobius joblingi Wenzel, 1966. Artibeus planirostris (Spix, 1823) também apresentou elevadas taxas de prevalência, enquanto Artibeus lituratus (Olfers, 1818) e Sturnira lilium (E, Geoffroy, 1810) revelaram baixas prevalências de infestação. Quatro espécies de Streblidae foram consideradas monoxênicas e duas oligoxênicas, o que é indicado pela análise de especificidade, o que demonstra o predomínio de espécies monoxênicas já relatado em outros trabalhos.

Coexistence of two sympatric cryptic bat species in French Guiana: insights from genetic, acoustic and ecological data

Background

The distinction between lineages of neotropical bats from the Pteronotus parnellii species complex has been previously made according to mitochondrial DNA, and especially morphology and acoustics, in order to separate them into two species. In these studies, either sample sizes were too low when genetic and acoustic or morphological data were gathered on the same individuals, or genetic and other data were collected on different individuals. In this study, we intensively sampled bats in 4 caves and combined all approaches in order to analyse genetic, morphologic, and acoustic divergence between these lineages that live in the same caves in French Guiana.

Results

A multiplex of 20 polymorphic microsatellite markers was developed using the 454-pyrosequencing technique to investigate for the first time the extent of reproductive isolation between the two lineages and the population genetic structure within lineages. We genotyped 748 individuals sampled between 2010 and 2015 at the 20 nuclear microsatellite loci and sequenced a portion of the cytochrome c oxydase I gene in a subset of these. Two distinct, non-overlapping haplogroups corresponding to cryptic species P. alitonus and P. rubiginosus were revealed, in accordance with previous findings. No spatial genetic structure between caves was detected for both species. Hybridization appeared to be quite limited (0.1–4%) using microsatellite markers whereas introgression was more common (7.5%) and asymmetric for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Conclusions

The extremely low rate of hybridization could be explained by differences in life cycle phenology between species as well as morphological and acoustical distinction between sexes in one or the other species. Taken together, these results add to our growing understanding of the nature of species boundaries in Pteronotus parnelli, but deserve more in-depth studies to understand the evolutionary processes underlying asymmetric mtDNA introgression in this group of cryptic species.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12862-018-1289-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.