Lonchophylla peracchii Dias, Esbérard & Moratelli, 2013, sp. nov.

Lonchophylla peracchii, sp. nov.

Peracchi’s Nectar Bat

Figures 2, 3, 4, and 7; tables 2, and 3

Lonchophylla bokermanni: Taddei, Souza & Manuzzi, 1988: Part; not Lonchophylla bokermanni Sazima, Vizotto and Taddei, 1978.

Holotype. An adult female, DZSJRP 15162, preserved in alcohol, with skull removed and complete, including mandible (Figures 3 a–d), collected by S. A. de Souza and J. L. Manuzzi (original field number DZUFRJ 62) on 0 9 December 1984.

Type locality. Near Vila do Abraão (ca. 23°07’ S, 44°10’ W), Ilha Grande, Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The type locality is a continental island located (ca.) 2 km from the continent (Esbérard et al. 2006; see Figure 1).

Paratypes. The paratypes include two adult females, DZSJRP 15159 and DZSJRP 15163 (original numbers Feema 93 and Feema 94, respectively), collected in 2 August 1980, in the same locality of the holotype, by S. A. de Souza e J. L. Manuzzi. Dimensions for the type series are reported in table 3.

See text for a description of measurement methods.

Distribution. Lonchophylla peracchii is currently known from different habitat formations along the Atlantic Forest of Rio de Janeiro. This species occurs in islands near the continent, lowland and mountainous evergreen forests, semideciduous stational forests, and pioneer formations. Altitudinal records range from the sea level in the Costa Verde region, to 900 m in the Serra dos Órgãos National Park. Lonchophylla peracchii apparently occurs in syntopy with the other nectar-feeding species Anoura caudifer (É. Geoffroy, 1818), A. geoffroyi Gray, 1838, and Glossophaga soricina (Pallas, 1766). We expect the occurrence of the species in other Atlantic Forest localities in southeastern Brazil. One specimen recently reported from Espírito Santo (Pimenta et al. 2010) fits with measurements herein reported to L. peracchii.

Etymology. Lonchophylla peracchii is named after Dr. Adriano Lúcio Peracchi—who first questioned the distinct taxonomic status of the Atlantic Forest populations of L. bokermanni. We are pleased to dedicate this new species to him due to his outstanding contributions to the Brazilian chiropterology and acarology, and as the former supervisor of the three authors (see Peracchi 2010).

Diagnosis. The following set of characters distinguish L. peracchii from all congeners: medium-sized ear with narrow tip; tragus with rounded tip (not pointed); ventral fur brownish, with slight contrast between hair bases and tips; forearm length 37.0 mm or less; mesostyles of M1 and M2 absent or poorly developed; parastyle of M1 poorly developed, and oriented labially; metastyles of M1 and M2 poorly developed; and ratio of forearm length to condylo-incisive length 1.57 or less.

Description. Lonchophylla peracchii is a small to medium-sized species (FA: 34.5–36.9 mm; Table 2), with long and silky pelage; pale-brownish ventral pelage from neck to genital region, with slight contrast between the medium-brown bases and the pale-brown tips; ventral and dorsal pelages contrasting slightly; medium-brown wing membranes; pale-brown ears, tragus, noseleaf and uropatagium; elongated and narrow muzzle; medium-sized ears, with tragus spatulate and rounded at the tip; proximal portion of the dorsal surface of the forearm covered with fur; large and elongated noseleaf spear, with indistinct central rib extending up to the tip; horseshoe continuous with the upper lip; and short interfemoral membrane, that not reaches the ankle.

The skull and rostrum are long and narrow, with a postorbital region not inflated and without lateral projections in dorsal view; supraorbital region and nasals not inflated; posterior border of infraorbital foramen set between the posterior root of P4 and anterior root of M1 or above the anterior root of M 1 in lateral view; mesopterygoid fossa long, opened, and U-shaped or V-shaped anteriorly; pterygoid processes narrow, divergent and not inflated; basisphenoid pits shallow, with intervening septum broad; posteromedial edge of the palate positioned posteriorly to the posterior border of the optic foramen; zygomatic arcs absent; dentary long and slender; articular process long and slender, but conspicuous; and coronoid process low, with rounded tip slightly above the line of the articular condyle.

Dental formula 2/2, 1/1, 2/3, 3/3, totaling 34 teeth, with inner upper incisors elongated, spatulated, procumbent and separated at the bases but in contact at the tips; inner and outer upper incisors not in contact; outer upper incisors small, slender and pointed, and not in contact with canines; upper canines long and distinctly grooved along the anterior surface, and not in contact with P3 (the first upper premolar); upper premolars triangular, anteroposteriorly elongated in lateral view, and narrow in occlusal view; P4 with inner lobe reduced, varying from very low to a small curve, or to a small projection, with a rudimentary cusp, with lingual root displaced posteriorly; upper molars decreasing in size from M1 to M3; mesostyle absent or reduced in both M1 and M2; parastyle of M1 poorly developed, labially oriented in occlusal view, and not projected over the labial margin of the P4; parastyle of M2 and metastyles of both M1 and M2 poorly developed; lower incisors trilobed and relatively broad; lower second premolar (p2) bladelike, with posterior cusp reduced or absent and in contact with canine.

Comparisons. We directly compare L. peracchii with L. dekeyseri, L. mordax and L. bokermanni due to the possible sympatry with L. mordax in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil, possible parapatry with L. dekeyseri along part of the east coast of Brazil (see Griffiths & Gardner 2008), and cryptic morphology with L. bokermanni.

Also, we compare L. peracchii with the remaining South American species—all of them either from the Amazon basin or from the northwestern South America—based on original descriptions, and subsequent reassessments (e.g., Dávalos 2004; Albuja & Gardner 2005; Woodman & Timm 2006; Woodman 2007; Dávalos & Corthals 2008; Griffiths & Gardner 2008).

L. peracchii and L. bokermanni can be distinguished by external, cranial, and dental traits reported above in the distinction of samples previously assigned to L. bokermanni from Atlantic Forest (subsequently assigned to L. peracchii), and Cerrado (kept as L. bokermanni). Useful traits to distinguish these species are the forearm length (FA: 34.5–36.9 mm in peracchii; 39.4–41.1 mm in bokermanni); and the ratios of greatest skull length to forearm length (GLS/FA: 0.65–0.73 in peracchii, 0.62–0.64 in bokermanni), and condylo-incisive length to forearm length (CIL /FA 0.64–0.70 in peracchii, 0.59–0.61 in bokermanni).

From L. mordax and L. dekeyseri, L. peracchii can be distinguished by the proximal portion of the dorsal surface of the forearm covered with fur. These species overlap in the forearm length (FA: 34.5–36.9 mm in peracchii, 32.5– 36.7 mm in mordax, 34.7–37.7 mm in dekeyseri), but in the length of skull L. peracchii is larger than L. dekeyseri and L. mordax, overlapping with L. mordax, but not with L. dekeyseri (GLS: 23.8–25.4 mm in peracchii, 21.9–22.4 mm in dekeyseri, 22.4–24.2 mm in mordax). It can also be distinguished from L. dekeyseri by the ratio of greatest skull length to forearm length (GLS/FA: 0.65–0.73 in peracchii, 0.60–0.64 in dekeyseri), and by the longer and narrower rostrum, which is shorter and inflated in L. dekeyseri. From L. mordax, L. peracchii can also be distinguished by the last premolar (P4) narrower, with inner lobe varying from very low to a small curve, or to a small projection, with a rudimentary cusp (in contrast with P4 robust, with inner lobe well developed, and lingual root in the median portion of the tooth in mordax); basisphenoid pits shallow, with intervening septum relatively broad (basisphenoid pits deep, separated by a narrow septum in mordax); posteromedial edge of the palate positioned posteriorly to the posterior border of the optic foramen (posteromedial edge of the palate positioned anteriorly to the posterior border of the optic foramen in mordax); coronoid process low, with rounded tip slightly above the line of the articular condyle (coronoid processes high, more triangular, above the line of the articular condyle in mordax); upper canines distinctly grooved along the anterior surface (upper canines with convex anterior surface not grooved in mordax); and parastyle of M1 oriented labially, and not projected over the labial margin of the P4 (parastyle of M1 oriented forwardly, projected over the posterior labial margin of the P 4 in mordax).

Regarding the remaining species—all of them either from the Amazon basin or northwestern South America— L. peracchii can be distinguished from L. thomasi, L. cadenai Woodman & Timm, 2006, and L. pattoni Woodman & Timm, 2006 by the larger external and cranial size (FA ≤ 34.1 mm, and GLS ≤ 22.5 mm in thomasi, cadenai, and pattoni); from L. concava Goldman, 1914 by the larger mandible (MAL ≤ 15.5 mm in concava; see Woodman & Timm [2006]); from L. chocoana Dávalos, 2004, and L. orienticollina Dávalos & Corthals, 2008 by the smaller external size (FA ≥ 40 mm in chocoana and orienticollina); from L. handleyi Hill, 1980, L. hesperia G. M. Allen, 1908, and L. orcesi Albuja & Gardner, 2005 by the smaller skull (GLS: 26.9–29.2 mm in handleyi, 26–28 mm in hesperia, and> 29 mm in orcesi); also it can be distinguished from L. handleyi, and from L. robusta Miller, 1912 by the smaller and narrower skull and rostrum (BAC> 6 mm, MAB> 10 mm, and MTL> 9 mm in handleyi and robusta); and from L. fornicata Woodman, 2007 by the more anteriorly positioning of the posterior border of the anteorbital foramen, and the shallower posterior portion of the palate.

The following set of external characters is useful to field identifications of L. peracchii: forearm length 37.0 mm or less; tragus with rounded tip; ventral pelage slightly bicolor, with dark-brown bases and pale-brown tips, brownish in the general appearance, and contrasting slightly with the dorsal pelage (see Figures 2 and 7).

Remarks: This research is the first result of a series of studies re-evaluating taxonomic limits among species of the genus Lonchophylla from the eastern portion of South America. We conclude that populations previously assigned to L. bokermanni from Cerrado and Atlantic Forest constitute two distinct lineages, with L. bokermanni restricted to Cerrado, and L. peracchii restricted to southeastern Atlantic Forest.

Due to the similarity in size of the specimen reported by Pimenta et al. (2010) from Reserva Biológica de Sooretama with L. peracchii, we expect the occurrence of this species in the Atlantic Forest of Espírito Santo; but based on the restricted distribution ranges and apparent endemism revealed for most congeners (see Dávalos 2004; Albuja & Gardner 2005, Woodman 2007; Dávalos & Corthals 2008), and the high bat sampling effort in southeastern Brazil (see Bergallo et al. 2003), we suppose L. peracchii is restricted to Atlantic Forest. Additionally, after the reidentification of specimens previously assigned to L. mordax from Rio de Janeiro (Dias et al. 2002; Esbérard et al. 2006) as L. peracchii, we suppose L. mordax does not occur in the State. We recommend the reidentification of specimens from Atlantic Forest localities assigned to L. mordax (see Pedro & Passos 1995; Faria et al. 2006). Although our morphological comparisons have revealed qualitative traits useful in the distinction between L. mordax and L. dekeyseri, we examined only two specimens of the latter. Comprehensive samples of both taxa must be examined to assess the consistency of these traits, and their application in delimiting species.

Due to the high concentration of endemic species and exceptional habitat loss, Atlantic Forest and Cerrado biomes have been considered biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities (Myers et al. 2000; Mittermeier et al. 2004; Ribeiro et al. 2009). With the assignment of Atlantic Forest and Cerrado populations of Lonchophylla to distinct and apparently endemic species— L. peracchii and L. bokermanni, respectively—efforts to increase our background on the biology and distribution of these species are required to support conservation actions. Among them, we recommend critical review of museum specimens, and additional capture efforts focused on nectar-feeding bats.

Information on natural history of L. peracchii is available under the name L. bokermanni in Taddei et al. (1988), Esbérard et al. (1997; 2006; 2010), Baptista & Mello (2001), Dias et al. (2002), Esbérard (2003; 2007; 2009), Brito et al. (2004), Moratelli & Peracchi (2007), Dias & Peracchi (2008), Dias et al. (2008), Lourenço et al. (2010), and Novaes et al. (2010).