11.

Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bat

Natalus stramineus

French: Natalide paillée / German: Kleine-Antillen-Trichterohr / Spanish: Natélido de las Pequenas Antillas

Taxonomy. Natalus stramineus J. E. Gray, 1838,

type locality unknown. Identified by A. Tejedor in 2006 as northern Lesser Antilles (Anguilla to Montserrat).

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Lesser Antilles N of St. Lucia Channel (Anguilla, Saba, Nevis, Barbuda, Antigua, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Dominica, and Martinique).

Descriptive notes. Ear 14:6-17-5 mm, forearm 37-8419 mm (males) and 36:9-41-2 mm (females); weight 4.9-5-2 g (males) and 4-6-5-3 g (females). Dorsal hairs are smoke gray, with wood-brown tips to amber or orange-brown with mediumbrown tips; ventral pelage is unicolored pale smoke gray or pinkish buff to light amber-chestnut or orange-brown. There are dense mustache-like hair tufts along lateral margins of upper lip and on dorsum of muzzle. Medial and lateral ear margins are deeply concave; there are 5-6 ear pleats; pinna is funnel-shaped, with markedly pointed tip. Natalid organ of malesis relatively flat, elliptical to wedge-shaped, and extends onto crown. Ungual tufts are absent. Braincase is moderately inflated, rising gently from rostrum; premaxilla is inflated; maxilla dorsal to molars 1s convex and not inflated; postorbital region of skull in dorsal view has sides widely diverging rostrally; palate is present between pterygoids; caudal margins of maxilla in ventral view form acute angle with longitudinal axis of skull; basisphenoid pits are shallow; mesostylar crest on third molar is absent.

Habitat. From dry coastal scrub to rainforest at elevations of 0-473 m. The Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bat roosts in small, humid caves, and it was found once in a brick tunnel.

Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bat is certainly insectivorous.

Breeding. Reproductive activity of the Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bat might be concentrated earlier in the year than in funnel-eared bats of the Greater Antilles. In Dominica, pregnant and lactating females have been found in April, and all females found in July were non-reproductive.

Activity patterns. Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bats are nocturnal. They can fly very slowly in clutter and presumably hunt by slow hawking and gleaning. Their echolocation calls are frequency-modulated (FM) and multiharmonic, with fainter fundamental harmonic centered at ¢.60 kHz and stronger second harmonic at 90-100 kHz. Duty cycle was found to be intermediate.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. In Dominica, the Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bat has been found coexisting with several thousand Davy’s Nakedbacked Bats (Pteronotus davyi) in a narrow cave opening on a sandy cliff.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Nevertheless, its small, naturally fragmented distribution and requirement for humid cave-like roosts suggest limited availability of suitable habitat and therefore vulnerable conservation status. The Lesser Antillean Funnel-eared Bat appears to be common on four islands (Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, and Saba) but known only from a single specimen from Marie-Galante, Martinique, and Nevis. The population on Montserrat is affected by volcanic eruptions, and its survival is uncertain.

Bibliography. Baker. Genoways & Patton (1978), Genoways, Pedersen et al. (2007), Genoways, Timm et al. (2001), Handley & Gardner (1990), Jennings et al. (2004), Pedersen (2003), Pedersen, Genoways, Morton, Johnson & Courts (2003), Pedersen, Genoways, Morton, Swier et al. (2006), Pedersen, Larsen et al. (2007), Tejedor (2006, 2011), Timm & Genoways (2003).