Mastozoología Neotropical, 25(1):129-137, Mendoza, 2018 Copyright ©SAREM, 2018 Versión on-line ISSN 1666-0536 http://www.sarem.org.ar https://doi.org/10.31687/saremMN.18.25.1.0.12 http://www.sbmz.com.br Artículo FIRST RECORD OF Promops davisoni (THOMAS, 1921) (CHIROPTERA, MOLOSSIDAE) FROM CHILE AND A DESCRIPTION OF ITS ECHOLOCATION CALLS Gonzalo Ossa1, 2, Thomas M. Lilley3, Joaquín Ugarte-Núñez4, Lasse Ruokolainen5, Karol Vilches2, 6, Pablo Valladares-Faúndez2, 6 and Veronica Yung7 1 Conserbat EIRL, San Fabián, Región del Biobío, Chile. [Correspondence: Gonzalo Ossa <[email protected]>] 2 Programa para la Conservación de los Murciélagos de Chile PCMCh. 3 Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, Turun Yliopisto, Finland. 4 Asociación para la Conservación y el Desarrollo Sostenible Sallqa, Lima, Perú. 5 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland. 6 Laboratorio de Zoología Integrativa, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile. 7 Laboratorio de la Sección Rabia, Subdepartamento de Virología, Instituto de Salud Pública, Santiago, Chile. ABSTRACT. Few studies have been conducted on the bat fauna of the Arica and Parinacota region, northern Chile. The genus Promops (Gervais, 1855) is a poorly known group of molossid bats, with three species widely distributed in Central and South America. We report for the first time the species Promops davisoni in Chile. Identification was based on echolocation calls obtained at the Azapa and Lluta valleys and compared to reference calls from Tacna, Peru. We report the species as far as 127 km south of the previous published southernmost record in Pampa Alta, Peru. In addition we obtained an individual found at the Anzota caves, near the city of Arica. The species is found on the coast and in the fluvial valleys of Northern Chile, with altitudes ranging from sea level to 822 m a.s.l. We propose that the distribution of P. davisoni may extend further south, to the locality of Tana in the Tarapacá region, based on the capacity of the species to cross distances of over 100 km over large desert areas. With this species, we increase the known bat fauna of Chile to 14 species, and the bat fauna of the Arica and Parinacota region to nine species. RESUMEN. Primer registro de Promops davisoni (Thomas, 1921) (Chiroptera, Molossidae) en Chile, y des- cripción de sus llamadas de ecolocación. Pocos estudios sobre la fauna de murciélagos se han realizado en el la región de Arica y Parinacota, extremo norte de Chile. El género Promops (Gerais, 1855) corresponde a un grupo poco conocido de especies de la familia molossidae, con tres especies ampliamente distribuidas en América Central y Sur. Reportamos por primera vez la especie Promops davisoni en Chile, basados en el análisis de sus llamadas de ecolocación obtenidas en los valles de Azapa y Lluta, y comparados con llamadas de referencia de individuos registrados en Tacna, Perú. Se registró la especie a 127 km al sur del registro publicado anteriormente en Pampa Alta, Perú. Además obtuvimos un individuo encontrado en las cuevas de Anzota, cerca de la ciudad de Arica. La especie utiliza la costa y los valles del norte de Chile, desde el nivel del mar hasta los 822 m s.n.m. Consideramos que la distribución de P. davisoni se puede extender hasta la localidad de Tana, en la región de Tarapacá, dada la capacidad de la especie de cruzar extensas áreas desérticas de más de 100 km de distancia. Recibido 11 julio 2017. Aceptado 17 enero 2018. Editor asociado: G D’Elía 130 Mastozoología Neotropical, 25(1):129-137, Mendoza, 2018 G. Ossa et al. http://www.sarem.org.ar - http://www.sbmz.com.br Con este nuevo registro, incrementamos la diversidad de quirópteros de Chile a 14 especies y la diversidad de quirópteros en la región de Arica y Parinacota a nueve especies. Key words: Arica. Bioacoustics. Echolocation. Mastiff bat. Peru. Palabras clave: Arica. Bioacústica. Ecolocación. Murciélago mastín. Perú. INTRODUCTION (Thomas 1915) ranges from Mexico to Nica- ragua, and from French Guyana to Paraguay To date, 13 bat species have been recorded and northern Argentina (Marinkelle & Cadena in Chile (Ossa et al. 2014; Ossa & Diaz 2014; 1973; Genoways & Williams 1979; Kennedy Lapapiat et al. 2016; Rodriguez-San Pedro et et al. 1984); P. nasutus (Spix 1823) has a wide al. 2016) with the highest species richness distribution in South America, from Guy- found in the north of the country (Mann ana, Venezuela, and Colombia to northern 1950, 1978; Bonacic et al. 2016; Rodríguez-San Argentina and southern Brazil (Genoways & Pedro et al. 2016). This is consistent with the Williams 1979; Siles et al. 2005; Sandoval et latitudinal gradient of mammalian diversity in al. 2010; PaQui et al. 2016); and P. d av i s oni Chile, with peaks at 18° S (Puna highland and (Thomas 1921) is found in the coastal Peruvian Atacama Desert), and 37° S (Mediterranean desert province (sensu Morrone 2006), from and Temperate forest) (Samaniego & Marquet Manabi, Ecuador to Tacna, Peru. Promops 2009). Northern Chile comprises a desert davisoni was recently recognized as a distinct matrix, where vegetation is practically absent species (Gregorin & Chiquito 2010; Flores et (Luebert & Pliscoff 2006), except for the fluvial al. 2015). valleys, where vegetation and human activities All species of Promops have a convex face are developed. and a very deep palate, characteristics that dif- Few studies on bats have been conducted ferentiate this genus from other molossid genera in the Arica and Parinacota region, resulting (Gregorin & Taddei 2002; Pari et al. 2015; Diaz in a lack of information on the order in the et al. 2016). According to Gregorin & Chiquito region. The only study conducted so far in the (2010), P. d av i s oni is smaller than P. centralis Azapa valley resulted in the addition of the long and bigger than P. nasutus, with a forearm snouted bat Platalina genovensium (Thomas length ranging from 47.6 to 52.0 mm; dorsal 1928) to the known bat fauna of Chile (Galaz pelage is light brown or cinnamon brown, et al. 1999). Recent studies confirm the pres- being lighter than P. centralis and darker than ence of P. genovensium in Chile after 19 years P. nasutus. Promops davisoni is distinguished of uncertainty (Ossa et al. 2016). Other species by the whitish bands on its back, which cover recorded in the region are Myotis atacamensis up to half of the total length of the individuals (Lataste 1982), Histiotus montanus (Phillipi & (Diaz et al. 2016). Landbeck 1861), Histiotus macrotus (Poeppig Ultrasound detectors are widely used to study 1835), Tadarida brasiliensis (I. Geoffroy 1824), the distribution of bat species (Zsebők et al. Mormopterus kalinowskii (Thomas 1893), 2012; Briones-Salas et al. 2013; Winkler et al. Amorphochillus schnablii (Peters 1877), and 2014); especially for those species that can be Desmodus rotundus (E. Geoffroy 1810), totaliz- distinguished by their echolocation calls or are ing eight species for the region (Rodríguez-San difficult to capture (O’Farrell & Gannon 1999). Pedro et al. 2016). Even though bats of the family Molossidae Promops is a poorly known genus of molos- display very high plasticity in their echoloca- sid bats with three species widely distributed tion calls, those of the genus Promops are easily in Central and South America; P. centralis recognizable because of their structure (pulses FIRST CHILEAN RECORD OF Promops davisoni 131 rising or falling in frequency), which differ from MATERIALS AND METHODS those of other genera such as Tadarida, Eumops We used mist nets (Ecotone, Poland) and recorded and Cynomops (Jung et al. 2014). bat ultrasounds during the months of October 2015 Here we report the first record ofP. d av i s oni and January 2016 in the Azapa and Luta valleys for Chile, in the Arica and Parinacota region (Table 1). We deployed 100 linear meters of mist (Fig. 1), extending its distribution in the region nets every night; six nights in October 2015 and as far as 127 km S of the previous published six nights in January 2016 at different sites in both record in Peru (Flores et al. 2015), comparing valleys, from 200 to 800 m of altitude. We selected the echolocation calls of identified individuals humid sites near crops and livestock. In addition, from Peru and random records from Chile. An we used a Song Meter SM3Bat recorder (Wildlife individual captured 102 km S of the previous Acoustics Inc., Maynard, MA, USA), set to record record (Flores et al. 2015) is also reported. We bats from sunset to sunrise. Recordings were con- ducted using a sampling frequency of 384 kHz and suggest that the species is commonly distributed saved as .WAV files. Files were analysed manually in the Azapa and Lluta Valleys. With this spe- using the software Avisoft SAS Lab Pro 5.2.07 (Avi- cies, we increase the known bat fauna of Chile soft Bioacoustics, Berlin, Germany) using a FFT to 14 species, and the bat fauna of the Arica length of 256 kHz, Frame size 75% and Overlap and Parinacota region to nine species. 50%. We measured start frequency, end frequency, Fig. 1. Recording localities of Promops davisoni (grey circles). New records in Chile are numbered: 1. Anzota caves; 2. Linderos; 3. El Tambo; 4. San Miguel de Azapa; 5. Casa Grande, and 6. Reference recordings from Tacna. See Table 1 for coordinates of these sites. Other recording localities were taken from Ortiz de la Puente (1951); Zeballos et al. (2001); Pacheco et al. (2009); Gregorin & Chiquito (2010); Velazco et al. (2013); and Flores et al. (2015). 132 Mastozoología Neotropical, 25(1):129-137, Mendoza, 2018 G. Ossa et al. http://www.sarem.org.ar - http://www.sbmz.com.br Table 1 Characterization of the Chilean sites where Promops davisoni was acoustically recorded.