¹ "Rt. 98" and "15 mi. S Waukenna" both in Jefferson Co.

² Only nine specimens.

³ N Island, Grand Lake, Iberville Parish."

⁴ Some in Amer. Mus. Nat. History.

⁵ Females, 8; males, 3; unsexed, 1.

⁶ Only 11 specimens.

⁷ 10 mi. W, 2 mi. S Piedra, Tamaulipas.

⁸ 16 mi. W, 3 mi. S Piedra, Tamaulipas.

Lasiurus ega

Southern Yellow Bat

This species occurs from the southwestern United States (Palm Springs, California, and Tucson, Arizona) southward into Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. Of the six currently (see Handley, 1960) recognized subspecies of L. ega, four occur only in South America, and two occur only in North America.

Cabrera (1958:115) regarded Dasypterus ega fuscatus Thomas (1901:246), based on three specimens from Río Cauquete, Río Cauca, Colombia, as a synonym of Dasypterus ega panamensis Thomas (loc. cit.) that was based on a specimen from Bogava, 250 meters elevation, Chiriquí, Panamá. The latter name has line priority over fuscatus. Cabrera (1958:116) remarked that: "Las diferencias que Thomas señaló entre el Dasypterus de Panamá y el de Colombia (fuscatus) nos parecen estar dentro de los límites de la variación individual, siendo además muy raro que una especie de quiróptero este representada en Colombia y en Panamá por razas diferentes."

On July 16, 1958, at the British Museum of Natural History, one of us (Hall) examined the holotypes of panamensis and fuscatus, as well as other materials used by Thomas, and readily perceived the differences that he pointed out. Thomas' description, although terse, is accurate. L. e. fuscatus is much more blackish than panamensis. We are inclined to retain the two names as applicable to two subspecies. Whether or not fuscatus is synonymized under panamensis, the holotype of panamensis is an intergrade between the almost black Colombian animal (fuscatus) and the paler individuals in Central America and territory north thereof. Even so, the holotype of panamensis more closely resembles the blackish Colombian population than the paler populations to the north and the name panamensis, therefore, is correctly applicable to the bat from Panamá, but not to bats of the species Lasiurus ega from farther north as most authors (see, for example, Hall and Kelson, 1959:194, map 143; and Handley, 1960:474) suggested was the case. For the populations north of Panamá the name Lasiurus ega xanthinus (Thomas) (1897:544) needs to be used.

Lasiurus ega xanthinus (Thomas)

Lasiurus ega panamensis (Thomas)

RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SPECIES OF LASIURUS

As suggested by Dalquest in 1953 (p. 62) and by Handley in 1959 (p. 119) and 1960 (p. 473), the yellow bats, Lasiurus ega (Gervais) and Lasiurus intermedius H. Allen, so closely resemble the hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus (Palisot de Beauvois), and the red bats, Lasiurus borealis (Müller) and the seven related species listed below, that all are properly included in a single genus. Many of the common characteristics are enumerated above in the diagnosis of the genus (see also Handley, 1960:473).

Fig. 3. Diagram of bones of right arm and third finger (middle digit) including cartilage on distal end of terminal (3rd) phalanx. Percentages are in terms of the over-all length of the arm and third finger.

A listing of the differences between the species is less impressive than a listing of the resemblances. The yellow bats differ less from the red bats than does the hoary bat, L. cinereus, which differs from all of the others as follows: talonid on m3 larger; p4 single-rooted instead of double-rooted; hypocone on M1 and M2 smaller; coronoid process lower; ossified part of tympanic ring, which shields the petrosal, larger; humerus relatively shorter; forearm relatively longer; first phalanx of middle finger relatively shorter; presternum including keel longer than wide instead of vice versa. The differences in the sternum and proportions of the forelimb reflect the more rapid flight of the hoary bat. The yellow bats differ from the red bats and hoary bat in long rostrum, pronounced sagittal crest, high coronoid process, absence of the first upper premolar, long first phalanx of the third digit and short terminal (3rd) phalanx of the same digit. Features in which the red bats are extreme in the genus are short rostrum, short forearm, and relatively longer second phalanx of the third finger. The red bats differ only slightly one from another.

Next to nothing is known of extinct Tertiary ancestors of species of the genus Lasiurus. Also relatively little is known about Lasiurus in the Pleistocene. Consequently, evolution of the living species has to be inferred almost entirely from what is known about their structure, habits, and geographic distribution. Figure 4 presents some ideas concerning relationships.

LIST OF NAMED KINDS OF THE GENUS LASIURUS

The words "type from" indicate that a specimen or specimens served as basis for the name. The words "type locality" signify lack of knowledge as to whether a specimen was preserved.

Red Bats

Lasiurus borealis borealis (Müller), 1776, type from New York.

[Vespertilio] noveboracensis Erxleben, 1777, based, in part, on "Der Neujorker" of Müller (ante).

Vespertilio lasiurus Schreber, 1781, type locality, North America.

Vespertilio rubellus Palisot de Beauvois, 1796, type locality unknown.

Vespertilio rubra Ord, 1815, based on the red bat of Wilson, Amer. Ornith., 6:60.

Vespertilio tesselatus Rafinesque, 1818, type locality unknown.

Vespertilio monachus Rafinesque, 1818, type locality unknown.

Vespertilio rufus Warden, 1820, based on the red bat of Wilson, ibid.

Lasiurus funebris Fitzinger, 1870, type locality, Tennessee.

Myotis quebecensis Yourans, 1930, type from Anse-à-Wolfe, Quebec.

Lasiurus borealis frantzii (Peters), 1871, type from Costa Rica.

Lasiurus borealis teliotis (H. Allen), 1891, type probably from California.

Lasiurus borealis ornatus Hall, 1951, type from Penuela, Veracruz.

Lasiurus borealis varius (Poeppig), 1835, type from Antuco, Provincia de Bió-Bió, Chile.

Nycticeus poepingii Lesson, 1836, type from Chile.

Lasiurus borealis salinae Thomas, 1902, type from Cruz del Eje, Cordoba, Argentina.

Lasiurus borealis blossevillii Lesson and Garnot, 1826, type from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Vespertilio bonariensis Lesson, 1827, type from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lasiurus enslenii Lima, 1926, type from São Lourenço, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Lasiurus pfeifferi (Gundlach), 1861, type from Cuba.

Lasiurus degelidus Miller, 1931, type from Sutton's, District of Vere, Jamaica.

Lasiurus minor Miller, 1931, type from "Voute l'Eglise," 1350 ft., a cave near the Jacmel road a few kilometers N Trouin, Haiti.

Lasiurus seminolus (Rhoads), 1895, type from Tarpon Springs, Pinellas Co., Florida.

Lasiurus castaneus Handley, 1960, type from Tacarcuna Village, 3200 ft., Río Pucro, Darién, Panamá.

Lasiurus egregius (Peters), 1871, type from Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Lasiurus brachyotis (J. A. Allen), 1892, type from San Cristóbal Island, Galapagos Islands.

Yellow Bats

Lasiurus golliheri (Hibbard and Taylor), Contributions Mus. Paleo., Univ. Michigan, 16:162, fig. 10F, July 1, 1960 [an extinct species], type from [a stratum of Late Pleistocene Age] "Below the caliche bed in the Kingsdown formation; Cragin Quarry local fauna, locality 1 (Sangamon age); Big Springs Ranch, SW ¼ sec. 17, T. 32 S., R. 28 W. (Kansas University Locality 6), Meade County, Kansas."

Lasiurus ega xanthinus (Thomas), 1897, type from Sierra Laguna, Baja California.

Lasiurus ega panamensis (Thomas), 1901, type from Bugaba, Chiriquí, Panamá.

Lasiurus ega fuscatus (Thomas), 1901, type from Río Cauquete, Colombia.

Dasypterus ega punensis J. A. Allen, 1914, type from Isla de Puná, Ecuador.

Lasiurus ega ega (Gervais), 1856, type from Ega, Estado de Amazonas, Brazil.

class="indent2" Lasiurus caudatus Tomes, 1857, type from Pernambuco, Brazil.

Lasiurus ega argentinus (Thomas), 1901, type from Goya, Province of Corrientes, Argentina.

Lasiurus intermedius intermedius H. Allen, 1862, type from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, México.

Lasiurus intermedius floridanus (Miller), 1902, type from Lake Kissimmee, Osceola Co., Florida.

Lasiurus intermedius insularis Hall and Jones, 1961, type from Cienfuegos, Las Villas Province, Cuba.

Hoary Bats

Lasiurus fossilis Hibbard, Contributions Mus. Paleo., Univ. Michigan, 8(No.6): 134, fig. 5, June 20, 1950 [an extinct species], type from [an early Pleistocene or a late Pliocene deposit] "Rexroad formation, Rexroad fauna. Locality UM-K1-47, Fox Canyon, XI Ranch, Meade County, Kansas."

Lasiurus cinereus cinereus (Palisot de Beauvois), 1796, type from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known from Late Pleistocene time as well as from Recent time (see Hibbard and Taylor, Contributions Mus. Paleo., Univ. Michigan, 16:159, fig. 10A, July 1, 1960, for occurrence in Cragin Quarry local fauna, Sangamon Age, Meade County, Kansas).

Vespertilio pruinosus Say, 1823, type from Engineer Cantonment, Washington Co., Nebraska.

A[talapha]. mexicana Saussure, 1861, type from an unknown locality, probably from Veracruz, Puebla, or Oaxaca.

Lasiurus cinereus villosissimus É. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1806, type locality, Asunción, Paraguay.

Lasiurus grayi Tomes, 1857, type from Chile.

Atalapha pallescens Peters, 1871, type from Paramo de la Culata, Andes de Mérida, Venezuela.

Atalapha cinerea brasiliensis Pira, 1905, type from Ignape, São Paulo, Brazil.

Lasiurus cinereus semotus (H. Allen), 1890, type from Hawaii.

EXPLANATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Hall and Jones are jointly responsible for the accounts of the two species of yellow bats, but Hall alone assumes responsibility for the other parts of the paper. Thanks are extended to the National Science Foundation for financial support (Grant No. 56 G 103) of the study here reported on. We are grateful also to the following persons for the loan of specimens in their care: S. B. Benson, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California (MVZ); W. F. Blair, Department of Zoology, University of Texas (Univ. Texas); W. B. Davis, Dept. Wildlife Management, Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (TAMC or Texas A & M); D. H. Johnson, C. O. Handley, Jr., and W. H. Setzer, U.S. National Museum (USNM); Barbara Lawrence, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College (MCZ); J. N. Layne, Department of Biology, University of Florida (UF); G. H. Lowery, Jr., Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University (LSU); P. J. H. van Bree, Department of Mammals, Zoölogisch Museum, Amsterdam (AZM); and R. G. Van Gelder, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Thanks are extended also to E. T. Hooper and W. H. Burt, Mus. Zoology, University of Michigan (Univ. Mich.), to Philip Hershkovitz, Chicago Natural History Museum (Chicago Mus.), and to Peter Crowcroft, British Museum, Natural History, for permission to examine specimens there. Mr. Gilberto Silva Taboada arranged the loan of specimens from the Poey Museum, University of Havana and from the Ramsdem Museum, University of Oriente, both in Cuba. Mr. Silva Taboada and Dr. Carlos G. Aguayo of the Poey Museum graciously arranged an exchange of specimens whereby the holotype of L. i. insularis became the property of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas. Specimens in the last mentioned institution are identified with the symbol KU.

LITERATURE CITED

Allen, H.

Baker, R. H., and Dickerman, R. W.

Blair, W. F.

Borkhausen, M. B.

Cabrera, A.

Cockrum, E. L.

Coleman, R. H.

Constantine, D. G.

Dalquest, W. W.

Davis, W. B.

de Beaufort, L. F.

Eads, R. B., Menzies, G. C., and Wiseman, J. S.

Frye, O. E., Jr.

Gaumer, G. F.

Gervais, P.

Gray, J. E.

Greer, J. K.

Hall, E. R., and Kelson, K. R.

Hamilton, W. J., Jr.

Handley, C. O., Jr.

Ingles, L. G.

Ivey, R. D.

Lowery, G. H., Jr.

Miller, G. S., Jr.

Moore, J. C.

Peters, W.

Rafinesque, C. S.

Rageot, R. H.

Sanborn, C. C.

Sherman, H. B.

Taylor, W. P., and Davis, W. B.

Thomas, O.

Transmitted June 30, 1961.