NUEVA GUÍA DE LOS MURCIÉLAGOS DE ARGENTINA
Abstract
En esta guía se actualizan e incrementan las distribuciones de muchas especies, incluyendo extensiones de especies a nuevas provincias, como resultados de un aumento muy significativo de muestreos de campo e incorporación de ejemplares en las colecciones sistemáticas
(Barquez et al. 2011 a, b, 2013; Bracamonte y Lutz 2013; Castilla et al. 2010, 2013; Díaz et al. 2017, 2018, 2019 a, b; Gamboa Alurralde et al. 2016, Giménez y Schiaffini 2019; Idoeta et al. 2012, 2015; Lutz et al. 2016; Massa et al. 2014; Montani et al. 2018, Pautasso et al. 2009, Pavé et al. 2017, De Sousa y Pavé 2009, Teta et al. 2009, Udrizar Sauthier et al. 2013). Entendemos que esta guía será una herramienta de utilidad para la identificación de las especies, en el campo y en las colecciones sistemáticas, y no sólo para investigadores, sino también para estudiantes, guardaparques y público en general; al mismo tiempo esperamos que sirva para incentivar el desarrollo de más estudios sobre este grupo en la Argentina.
... Occurs from southern Veracruz, Mexico, southward through Central America into Uruguay, northern Argentina and eastern Brazil, from humid tropical forests to savannas and semi-arid environments (Braun et al. 2009;Moratelli and Oliveira 2011;Moratelli et al. 2019a;Díaz et al. 2021). In Argentina, it occurs in Northwestern (Provinces of Jujuy, Salta, and Tucumán), Gran Chaco (Chaco, Formosa, and Santiago del Estero Provinces), Littoral regions (Provinces of Corrientes, Entre Ríos, and Misiones), and the Pampa area (Buenos Aires Province) (Barquez and Díaz 2020), from humid forests (Southern Andean Yungas) to scrublands (Dry Chaco) in an altitudinal range from 5 to 1,400 m. ...
... The distribution of this species still needs to be reviewed considering the recent taxonomic changes in populations originally identified as M. nigricans. Thus, records for other Argentinean provinces (e.g., Barquez and Díaz 2020) should be revised in light of new knowledge about Myotis systematics. ...
... In Argentina, M. riparius occurs in the northern portion, from Southern Andean Yungas (Jujuy, Salta, and Tucumán Provinces) throughout ombrophilous tropical forests in Humid Chaco (Province of Chaco and Formosa), Dry Chaco (Santiago del Estero), and moist Atlantic Forest (Misiones Province), in an altitudinal range from 70 to 2,000 m (Barquez and Díaz 2020). It is possible that records of M. riparius from the Pampa and Espinal ecoregions, in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos, may represent the newly described Myotis pampa Novaes, Wilson & Moratelli, 2021. ...
Myotis is the most speciose genus of mammals in the world and recent taxonomic revisions have revealed an impressive diversity of species in South America. Even so, the phenotypic conservatism of some taxa makes taxonomic delimitation difficult. We perform a taxonomic review of Myotis from Argentina based on qualitative and quantitative morphological characters. Our results confirm the occurrence of 12 species (M. albescens, M. chiloensis, M. dinellii, M. izecksohni, M. keaysi, M. lavali, M. levis, M. nigricans, M. oxyotus, M. riparius, M. ruber, and M. cf. simus) and revealed an additional new species for the Yungas Forest. The new species is small to medium (forearm length ~ 35 mm) and can be distinguished from its congeners by a set of characters that includes forearm length, cranial measurements, discrete craniodental characters, and fur color. This review does not exhaust the need for new systematic studies with Argentinean Myotis, considering the possibility of occurrence of new species and the great morphological variation found for some complex taxa.
... Prosser-Goodall (1979, p. 86) listed the former (now called Histiotus magellanicus) as rare, and the latter as doubtful. Indeed it is, according to Massoia and Chebez (1993, p. 238-239), Barquez et al (1999Barquez et al ( , 2020, Giménez et al. (2012), Udrizar Sauthier et al. (2013), Díaz et al. (2017), and Galaz et al. (2020). But recently, a surprising record of Tadarida brasiliensis was reported by Barquez et al. (2013, p. 123, Fig. 5): 'The specimen was found in the Argentina Army installations, Faro Cabo Vírgenes, at the southeastern end of the Argentine mainland at the entrance of the Estrecho de Magallanes, Santa Cruz Province.' ...
... End of story regarding alpha diversity, as it concerns the historical record here reviewed. However, the recent records of Histiotus montanus and Tadarida brasiliensis in southernmost Santa Cruz Province, just across Tierra del Fuego Island beg the question of whether there is higher bat diversity in Austral Patagonia (Barquez et al. 2013(Barquez et al. , 2020, and whether these records are of accidental, migrant, or resident bats. ...
A depauperate Chiropterofauna consisting of essentially three bat species (the year-round residents Histiotus magellanicus and Myotis chiloensis, and the apparently migratory Lasiurus varius), exists in the challenging cold and windy environment of the Magellanic/Fuegian region, which encompasses territories in Argentina and Chile, both continental and insular. Knowledge of that bat fauna benefitted from earlier explorers and naturalists visiting such southerly and isolated geographical confines, but still lacks a comprehensive scientific study, particularly in face of expected green-energy projects using aerogenerators known to cause bat fatalities elsewhere. Currently, there is a paucity of information on the fine-scale geographic distribution, local abundance, and migration patterns of those bats that needs to be remedied as soon as possible. Our review may aid orienting and focusing such a research program, which should hopefully be binational, on account of the artificial nature of the border between Argentina and Chile in Tierra del Fuego. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Geoffroy (1806) assigned the name villosissimus to this species, because F. de Azara described its fur as longer than that of other bats from Paraguay and the fur extends onto the interfemoral membrane. Some common names in Spanish for L. villosissimus are: murciélago escarchado grande sudamericano, murciélago ceniciento, murciélago canoso escarchado, murciélago gris (Linares 1998;Gantz and Martínez 2000; Barquez and Díaz 2020). ...
... Exotic tree plantations (e.g., Pinus and Eucalyptus) and agricultural crops such as vineyards are also used by L. villosissimus as foraging habitats in south-central Chile (Rodríguez-San Pedro and Simonetti 2013;Meynard et al. 2014;Rodríguez-San Pedro et al. 2018;Muñoz et al. 2019), where vineyards immersed in landscapes with a high proportion of native vegetation support higher levels of activity of L. villosissimus than those surrounded by urban areas (Rodríguez-San Pedro et al. 2019). In Bolivia, it is apparently common in the inter-Andean valley, the Puna, and the dry lowland forest (Vargas 2007 (Barquez and Díaz 2020). In the Galapagos Islands, L. villosissimus is apparently widespread, and it is plausible that it moves regularly between islands (McCracken et al. 1997). ...
The South American hoary bat, Lasiurus villosissimus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1806), is a vespertilionid bat, endemic to
South America and occurring in all countries except Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname. It is one of the four species included in the subgenus Aeorestes. Lasiurus villosissimus is distinguishable from all other species of the genus by its larger size and coloration (except Lasiurus cinereus, but it only occurs in Mexico, Central America, and the Hawaiian Islands). Pelage is dark brownish and grayish mixed with yellow, tinged with white, producing a frosty or hoary appearance which is always evident. It is an insectivorous species that inhabits a great variety of habitats.
Lasiurus villosissimus tiene una amplia distribución en Sudamérica, con numerosos registros en Argentina, aunque solo cuatro localidades han sido reportadas previamente para Patagonia. En esta contribución reportamos por primera vez la presencia de L. villosissimus en la porción oriental de la provincia del Chubut, Argentina. Durante monitoreos periódicos de fauna voladora en un parque eólico se encontró un ejemplar muerto en proximidad de un aerogenerador. La localidad de registro se encuentra a 30 km al sudoeste de Puerto Madryn. Este registro incrementa en 424 km hacia el sudeste y 499 km hacia el este la distribución conocida para la especie en Patagonia.
Se registra la segunda localidad para Molossus melini en la provincia de Santa Fe y la tercera para Argentina. El registro corresponde a un ambiente rural en la ecorregión Pampa. Esta nueva localidad amplía el rango de distribución conocido de la especie hacia el oeste entre la localidad tipo en la provincia de Santa Fe y el registro de la provincia de Entre Ríos. Además, se aportan datos de morfometría externa e información reproductiva de la especie.
Bats are reservoirs of various coronaviruses that can jump between bat species or other mammalian hosts, including humans. This article explores coronavirus infection in three bat species ( Tadarida brasiliensis, Eumops bonariensis , and Molossus molossus ) of the family Molossidae from Argentina using whole viral metagenome analysis. Fecal samples of 47 bats from three semiurban or highly urbanized areas of the province of Santa Fe were investigated. After viral particle enrichment, total RNA was sequenced using the Illumina NextSeq 550 instrument; the reads were assembled into contigs and taxonomically and phylogenetically analyzed. Three novel complete Alphacoronavirus (AlphaCoV) genomes (Tb1–3) and two partial sequences were identified in T. brasiliensis (Tb4–5), and an additional four partial sequences were identified in M. molossus (Mm1–4). Phylogenomic analysis showed that the novel AlphaCoV clustered in two different lineages distinct from the 15 officially recognized AlphaCoV subgenera. Tb2 and Tb3 isolates appeared to be variants of the same virus, probably involved in a persistent infectious cycle within the T. brasiliensis colony. Using recombination analysis, we detected a statistically significant event in Spike gene, which was reinforced by phylogenetic tree incongruence analysis, involving novel Tb1 and AlphaCoVs identified in Eptesicus fuscus (family Vespertilionidae) from the U.S. The putative recombinant region is in the S1 subdomain of the Spike gene, encompassing the potential receptor-binding domain of AlphaCoVs. This study reports the first AlphaCoV genomes in molossids from the Americas and provides new insights into recombination as an important mode of evolution of coronaviruses involved in cross-species transmission.
IMPORTANCE
This study generated three novel complete AlphaCoV genomes (Tb1, Tb2, and Tb3 isolates) identified in individuals of Tadarida brasiliensis from Argentina, which showed two different evolutionary patterns and are the first to be reported in the family Molossidae in the Americas. The novel Tb1 isolate was found to be involved in a putative recombination event with alphacoronaviruses identified in bats of the genus Eptesicus from the U.S., whereas isolates Tb2 and Tb3 were found in different collection seasons and might be involved in persistent viral infections in the bat colony. These findings contribute to our knowledge of the global diversity of bat coronaviruses in poorly studied species and highlight the different evolutionary aspects of AlphaCoVs circulating in bat populations in Argentina.
La destrucción y la fragmentación del hábitat natural por el avance de la frontera agrícola y la urbanización están destruyendo los refugios naturales de los murciélagos. Ésta es una de las cinco amenazas más importantes que afectan a los murciélagos en Latinoamérica y el Caribe, ya que producen la declinación de sus poblaciones (RELCOM 2010). Los refugios son fundamentales para los murciélagos porque ellos pasan allí más de la mitad de sus vidas, les brindan condiciones para cumplir con sus funciones biológicas y les ofrecen protección (Kunz 1982). Este grupo de mamíferos utiliza refugios tanto naturales (e.g. plantas, cuevas, termiteros) como artificiales (construcciones humanas). El desplazamiento de los murciélagos hacia áreas urbanas, especialmente de los artropodófagos, y la ocupación de refugios artificiales producen conflictos con los humanos (RELCOM 2010). La implementación de refugios artificiales o cajas-refugio para murciélagos podría ser fundamental para resolver este tipo de problemas. No obstante, al momento de construir e instalar estos refugios artificiales es importante tener en cuenta que la selección y el uso de los refugios por parte de los murciélagos depende de varios factores, tanto intrínsecos (preferencias metabólicas, organización social, selección sexual) como extrínsecos (forma del refugio, disponibilidad, riesgo de depredación). En el hemisferio norte, la implementación de cajas-refugio ha sido exitosa. En Estados Unidos han estudiado por décadas las preferencias de los murciélagos, por lo que actualmente las cajas-refugio de buena calidad, correctamente ubicadas, alcanzan un éxito del 80 % (Tuttle 2019). Rivera-Villanueva y Reyes-Ochoa (2022), quienes han instalado de manera exitosa refugios artificiales, afirman que, para que éstos sean exitosos, es importante tener en cuenta el sitio donde se colocan (temperatura, exposición al sol)
The gular gland is a skin gland located in the suprasternal region of adult males of some bat families. Knowledge of the morphology and functional aspects of these gland types is often limited. This study aimed to describe the structure and composition of the gular glands of three molossid species (Eumops patagonicus, Molossus fluminensis and Molossus molossus) with respect to their reproductive activity and to define the mechanism involved in secretion release. Different histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques were used to achieve these goals. The results revealed that the size and composition of this gland are variable and are mostly related to the lipid content during the reproductive season. The results also documented, for the first time, the occurrence of mechanoreceptors associated with the surface of the glandular duct by detecting an S100 protein, indicating that an external stimulus activates secretion. Previous studies on other species have classified the gland using obsolete criteria; hence, we adopted a new classification of adenomeres in this study. Moreover, we investigated the gland secretion mechanism previously proposed. This study defines the implications of this gland in the reproduction of this species. Our preliminary interpretation of the function of the gular gland is that it is a cutaneous exocrine gland activated by mechanoreceptors involved in the reproductive behaviour of the Molossidae family.
Tucumán es una provincia del Noroeste de Argentina con una superficie de 22.524 km 2 , atravesada por las ecorregiones de Chaco seco, Yungas, Altos Andes y Monte de Sierras y Bolsones. Sus altitudes varían desde los 300 m de las planicies, hasta los 5.500 m. del Cerro El Bolsón. Este gradiente se encuentra entre los Nevados del Aconquija, ubicadas al oeste de la provincia, y la zona chaqueña del este. Estas características, sumadas a las variaciones climáticas, hacen que esta provincia de superficie reducida, presente una alta diversidad de mamíferos, siendo la quinta más alta en el país. En Tucumán los mamíferos encuentran reducido su hábitat natural debido al acelerado avance de la frontera agrícola. Por el incremento de los cultivos de soja de los últimos años, se han perdido importantes superficies de las áreas naturales en la zona chaqueña. Una situación similar se observa en el pedemonte de Las Yungas, como consecuencia de la expansión e intensidad de los cultivos de caña de azúcar y cítricos. Ante esto, la ley de Ordenamiento Territorial de Bosques Nativos permitió el establecimiento de zonas intangibles para procurar preservar, en cierta medida, estos hábitats.
La publicación propone una recopilación de la información científica referida al Patrimonio Integral de Tucumán, expuesta de una manera simple y resumida, pero sin perder el rigor de la exactitud de los datos. Una muestra de la vocación de los profesionales involucrados en el dictado del curso para compartir su trabajo y pasión al que dedican sus vidas.
Una pequeña síntesis inicial pretende transmitir la importancia del conocimiento científico en el turismo como eje del desarrollo provincial. Los primeros capítulos refieren al patrimonio cultural, un viaje dedicado al estudio de las primeras huellas de la humanidad en nuestro territorio, atravesando el desarrollo de nuestras sociedades en las primeras aldeas denominadas Culturas Tafí y Candelaria. Luego avanza hacia el presente hasta llegar a la descripción de culturas con expresiones artísticas maravillosas como La Aguada, que de manera misteriosa y súbita desapareció. En una continuidad cultural, estas expresiones se transformaron social y económicamente para moldear nuevas identidades, como la denominada cultura Santamariana, conocida generalmente como “Los Diaguitas”. Posteriormente se expone la llegada de los Incas a Tucumán y se describe su interacción con los locales y su huella en nuestro territorio. Finalmente se aborda el período Colonial, usando como eje los datos e investigaciones de la antigua ciudad de Ibatín.
Hacia el final de la obra podemos encontrar los capítulos dedicados al patrimonio natural de Tucumán. El capítulo de los fósiles hace una maravillosa revisión de los registros de la vida millones de años atrás e incluso de las más recientes y conocidas Eras de hielo, todas en territorio tucumano. Conocimientos muy poco difundidos en general, que deja asombrados a quienes deciden explorarlos. Los capítulos de las selvas, aves y mamíferos de Tucumán permitirán ahondar en la biodiversidad que conforma nuestro ambiente natural y familiarizarnos incluso con nuestra identidad como parte de ese ambiente. Se espera que esta obra contribuya a valorar este Patrimonio y conocer las legislaciones que lo protegen, para que puedan seguir siendo un elemento de valor para el turismo, la educación, la ciencia y la producción tucumana a través de sus servicios ambientales; ya que de ellos depende el suministro de agua, el control de plagas, la estabilidad de los suelos, el filtrado del ambiente, la fijación del dióxido de carbono que tanto afecta el equilibrio climático mundial, entre otros innumerables beneficios que aporta nuestra biota local.
We present here the first record of Histiotus velatus I. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1824 for the province of Salta, Argentina. Until now, in Argentina, this species was only known from Jujuy, Corrientes, and Misiones provinces. Our record adds a fourth province to the distribution of this species in the country and the second record for the Northwestern Argentina, rising to 39 the number of bat species in Salta. We captured three adult males with mist-nets placed in Parque Nacional El Rey. This site represents one of the last largest continuous blocks of protected forests, within a region affected by the greatest anthropic transformation (e.g. agricultural development, cattle grazing) of northwestern Argentina.
Eight species of Myotis are known to occur west of the Andes, of which four are from western Peru. Based on four vouchers from the arid coast of northern and central Peru, a new species is added to this list. Myotis bakeri species novum externally resembles M. atacamensis but it can be distinguished from this species and all other South American congeners by a unique set of external and craniodental qualitative and quantitative characters. Herein, this new spe-cies that inhabits the lowland arid regions on the northern and central coasts of western Peru is named and described. As a result, 22 species of Myotis are now known from South America, nine of which occur in Peru.
Glyphonycteris is a poorly known genus of bats that inhabit lowlands and forested mountains of Central and South America. This genus comprises three nominal species, with G. sylvestris being the most widely distributed species in South America. The karyological data previously available for this genus are restricted to those resulting from conventional staining techniques applied to a few specimens from Surinam. Here, we report the first record of G. sylvestris in Argentina extending its southern distribution.
Moreover, our new locality represents the seventh record from the Atlantic Forests Biome and the first from Araucaria Moist Forest ecoregions. Our specimen overall exhibits the diagnostic characteristics described for the species except for some differences in the distribution of hairs on the wings and limbs. The fecal sample obtained from our specimen contained only seeds of Piper aduncum. The karyotype was 2n = 22 with a FN =
42; the analysis of fluorochrome banding patterns in the chromosomal pericentromeric regions shows DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) positive blocks in pairs 5 and 8, whereas pericentromeric regions stained with CMA3 (Chromomicine A3) are positive in pairs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 11. Moreover, the interstitial region of chromosomes shows DAPI and CMA3 positive blocks in pairs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. These karyological data are novel to G. sylvestris, contributing to the scarce knowledge of the genus. Thus, fiilling blanks of information and enabling further comparative chromosome analysis.
Mammals are one of the better known groups of animals, and in the Neotropics bats typically comprise about half of the mammalian species diversity. But, well resolved species-level phylogenies are still lacking for most taxa of bats. One broadly distributed genus is the mastiff bats, Molossus. Species within this genus are morphologically very similar, which results in a confusing and unstable taxonomy. In addition, low levels of genetic divergence among some clades make resolution of phylogenetic relationships difficult. Most authors recognize Molossus as being monophyletic, however, phylogenetic relationships within the genus remain poorly understood based on traditional Sanger sequencing of individual genes. We propose a more comprehensive framework based on large-scale genomic data derived from Next Generation Sequencing techniques to better understand evolutionary relationships within a group of closely related species with a rich taxonomic history. In this study, we utilized the NGS method of Genotype by Sequencing (GBS) to test the monophyly of the genus, understand evolutionary relationships within Molossus and investigate the genetic integrity of currently recognized species. Given that both de novo and reference genome pipelines are often used in the assembly of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism data from GBS, and that several tree inference methodologies have been proposed for SNP data, we test whether different alignments and phylogenetic approaches produce similar results. We also examined how the process of SNP identification and mapping can affect the consistency of the analyses. Our data provide the first high resolution phylogeny for the genus Molossus, bringing new insights into recognition of species boundaries and relationships among taxa. This study clarifies the taxonomy of Molossus and elevates the number of species in the genus from 11 to 14. We suggest the revalidation of the names M. nigricans, and M. fluminensis, which were synonymized under the name M. rufus; and M. bondae, previously synonymized under the name M. currentium. Different alignments and phylogenetic inferences produce consistent results, supporting use of SNP approach in addressing evolutionary questions on a macroevolutionary scale where the genetic distance among clades is low.
Vespertilionid species are widely distributed in South America. They are highly diverse, with physiological and behavioral adaptations which allow them to extend their distributions into temperate areas. In Patagonia, this family is represented by seven species in three genera ( Histiotus , Lasiurus and Myotis ). In this study, we analyzed the distribution of two vespertilionid species, Lasiurus villosissimus and Myotis dinellii , including new southernmost records, and their relationship with environmental variables. Two different spatial scales were analyzed: a continental approach for species distribution analyses (South America), and local trapping of bats in northwestern Chubut province, Argentina. We present new southern limits for L. villosissimus and M. dinellii , and included new records for Patagonian bats. The big hoary bat L. villosissimus was recorded as the largest bat inhabiting Patagonia, relating it as a bat mainly inhabiting low, humid and temperate/warm areas. The little yellow bat M. dinellii , instead, is the smallest mammal and the smallest bat recorded in Patagonia to date, related mainly with dry, mid-altitude and temperate/warm areas.