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Taxonomic Notes on Mexican Bats of the
Genus Rhogeëssa

BY

E. RAYMOND HALL




University of Kansas Publications
Museum of Natural History

Volume 5, No. 15, pp. 227-232
April 10, 1952




University of Kansas
LAWRENCE
1952




UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard,
Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 5, No. 15, pp. 227-232
April 10, 1952




UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Lawrence, Kansas




PRINTED BY
FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1952

24-1780




TAXONOMIC NOTES ON MEXICAN BATS OF THE GENUS RHOGEËSSA

BY

E. RAYMOND HALL


Five skins with skulls of _Rhogeëssa_, collected by J. R. Alcorn in the
states of Sonora and Nayarit of western Mexico, were recently received
at the Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansas. Two other
specimens of the same genus, collected by Walter W. Dalquest in the
state of Veracruz of eastern Mexico, also are in the Museum of Natural
History. With the aim of applying names to these bats they were compared
with materials in the United States National Museum (including the
Biological Surveys collection) where there are approximately the same
number of Mexican specimens of _Rhogeëssa_ as are in the Museum of
Natural History.

The three kinds of _Rhogeëssa_ named from Mexico are as follows: _R.
parvula_ from the Tres Marias Islands off the west coast of Nayarit; _R.
tumida_ from Mirador, Veracruz, on the eastern slope of the Republic;
and _R. gracilis_ from Piaxtla, Puebla, on the southern end of the
Mexican Plateau.

Of _Rhogeëssa gracilis_ Miller (N. Amer. Fauna, 13:126, October 16,
1897) only three specimens are known; two are from Piaxtla, Puebla, and
the third is from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Only the specimen from the
Isthmus has a complete skull. The broken skull of the holotype is partly
separated from the skin of the head and in such a manner as to reveal
the teeth. The skull of the holotype seems to be broader (relative to
its length) across the mastoids and posterior parts of the zygomata than
in _R. tumida_ or than in _R. parvula_. My comparisons indicate that
_Rhogeëssa gracilis_ has larger (longer and wider) ears than _R.
parvula_ and _R. tumida_ and that it is specifically distinct from the
two last mentioned kinds.

The two other nominal species from Mexico, _R. parvula_ and _R. tumida_,
were named and described by Harrison Allen (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.
Philadelphia, 1866: 285 and 286, respectively) on the basis of three
specimens in the United States National Museum. Two were from the Tres
Marias Islands and were the basis of the name _R. parvula_; the third
was from Mirador, Veracruz, and was the basis of the name _R. tumida_.
These specimens seem to have been preserved in alcohol. I have examined
the skulls of two of these. One (U.S.N.M., new number 37329, old number
7842) is alleged to be the paratype of _R. parvula_ and the other
(U.S.N.M., 84021) is alleged to be the holotype of _R. tumida_. In the
glass vial containing skull No. 84021, there is a label in the
handwriting of Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., bearing the following information:
"In the orig. descr. the number of this sp. is said to be 8195. This is
an error. Specimen catalogued 3.1.98 G.S.M. Jr." On the back of a second
label in the skull vial there is written, "There is no doubt that this
is the type skull. It was returned by H. A. with no. given in orig.
descr. G.S.M. Jr." In the catalogue of the U. S. National Museum there
is the statement that the type of _Rhogeëssa tumida_ was collected by H.
A. Grayson.

The name _Rhogeëssa parvula_ was based on two specimens (Smithsonian
Institution Nos. 7841 the type and 7842, in alcohol, collected by Col.
Grayson in the Tres Marias Islands off the west coast of Mexico.) The
type seems never to have been returned from the Academy of Sciences of
Philadelphia to the U. S. National Museum in Washington, D. C., and
cannot (in 1951) be found in Philadelphia or anywhere else. The skull,
but no other part, of the second specimen is in the United States
National Museum under the catalogue number 37329 (old No. 7842). The
skull has been broken in two through the interorbital region but is
glued together.

Of _R. tumida_, no additional specimen has been saved, so far as I know,
from the type locality, Mirador, Veracruz.

Of _R. parvula_, Nelson and Goldman, on May 19, 1897, on María Madre
Island, saved in alcohol an additional specimen (92413 U.S.N.M.) from
which J. Biggs, Preparator at the National Museum, in 1951, removed and
cleaned the skull. In small size and in all other features, the skull of
92413 closely resembles those of specimens saved by Alcorn from the
adjoining mainland of Mexico in Sonora and Nayarit. The pelage of the
upper parts of 92413 could be described as "of a light greyish-brown at
basal third, fawn-chestnut-brown at apical two-thirds" which are the
words that H. Allen (_op. cit._: 285) used to describe the pelage of his
_R. parvula_. The external measurements of 92413 are: total length, 60;
length of tail, 25; length of hind foot, 5.5; and ear from notch, 11.0.
The first two measurements are slightly smaller than the corresponding
measurements of any other specimen seen. Nevertheless, the measurements
(tail, 30.5; hind foot, 5.3 [after H. Allen, orig. descr.]) of the
holotype of _R. parvula_, also from the Tres Marias Islands, show that
it was as large as no. 39724 from the adjoining mainland (see table 1).

According to the original descriptions, _R. parvula_ and _R. tumida_
differ in size, _R. parvula_ being the smaller. As may be seen from
table 1, the alleged type of _R. tumida_ and the alleged paratype of _R.
parvula_ indicate the opposite! All specimens obtained since the time of
the original descriptions, as may be seen by inspecting table 1, support
the correctness of the original descriptions. Therefore, and also
because of the other information presented above, I am inclined to the
opinion that the holotype of _R. tumida_ and the paratype of _R.
parvula_ have been switched; each now is associated with the name and
data, at least for locality, of the other.

Other opinions are that _Rhogeëssa_ from the Tres Marias Islands average
smaller than _Rhogeëssa_ of the adjoining mainland of western Mexico but
not enough smaller to warrant subspecific separation of the two.
Specimens from places geographically intermediate between the geographic
ranges, as now known, of _R. parvula_ and _R. tumida_ probably will
reveal intergradation between the two kinds, which, therefore, should
stand as subspecies of a single species.

As understood now, the Mexican _Rhogeëssa_ are as follows:

     =Rhogeëssa parvula parvula= H. Allen

     1866. _Rhogeëssa parvula_ H. Allen, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.
     Philadelphia, p. 285, type from Tres Marias Islands.

     _Range._--Tres Marias Islands and western mainland of Mexico from
     Alamos, Sonora, south to San Blas, Nayarit.

     =Rhogeëssa parvula tumida= H. Allen.

     1866. _Rhogeëssa tumida_ H. Allen, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci.
     Philadelphia, p. 286, type from Mirador, Veracruz.

     _Range._--From Boca del Río, Veracruz, in eastern México, southward
     over México and Central America into Panamá.

     =Rhogeëssa gracilis= Miller.

     1897. _Rhogeëssa gracilis_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:126, October
     16, 1897, type from Piaxtla, Puebla.

     _Range._--Known only from the type locality and the Isthmus of
     Tehuantepec.

_Transmitted November 30, 1951._


TABLE 1.--MEASUREMENTS OF RHOGEËSSA FROM MEXICO

TABLE LEGEND

Column FO: Forearm
Column GR: Greatest length of skull including teeth
Column CO: Condylobasal length (not including teeth)
Column LE: Length of upper tooth-row, C1-M3
Column ZY: Zygomatic breadth
Column MA: Mastoid breadth
Column BR: Breadth across upper molars

======+===+========+===================+====+=====+====+=====+====+====+=====
  No. |Sex|  Date  |     Locality      | FO | GR  | CO | LE  | ZY | MA | BR
------|---+--------+-------------------+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----
  [A] |   |        |_Rhogeëssa parvula |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |  parvula_         |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |                   |    |     |    |     |    |    |
 92413| ? |May 19, |Maria Madre        |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1897   |  Island           |26.0|11.25|10.5| 4.1 |....|6.1 | 4.7
  7841| ? |....... |lost specimen—     |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |  Tres Marias Ids. |27.4|.... |....|.... |....|....|....
 84021|...|....... |alleged type of    |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |  _R. tumida_      |....|11.8 |10.9| 4.3 |....|6.2 | 4.9
 24853|[F]|May 7,  |W side             |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1948   |  Alamos, Sonora   |29.5|11.7 |10.8| 4.2 |7.8 |6.5 | 4.8
 24854|[F]|May 7,  |W side             |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1948   |  Alamos, Sonora   |29.0|11.4 |10.6| 4.4 |7.6 |6.1 | 4.9
 39723|[M]|Aug. 5, |1/2 mi. E San      |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1950   |  Blas, Nayarit    |27.2|12.2 |11.5| 4.5 |7.9 |6.5 | 5.1
 39724|[M]|Aug. 5, |1/2 mi. E San      |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1950   |  Blas, Nayarit    |27.3|11.7 |10.7| 4.2 |7.4 |6.4 | 4.8
 39725|[F]|Aug. 7, |1/2 mi. E San      |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1950   |  Blas, Nayarit    |28.0|12.0 |10.9| 4.4 |....|6.9 | 5.1
      |   |        |                   |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |_Rhogeëssa parvula |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |  tumida_          |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |                   |    |     |    |     |    |    |
 29886|[M]|Dec. 8, |Boca Del Rio,      |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1948   |  10 ft., Veracruz |28.7|12.7 |11.9| 4.63|8.4 |6.9 | 5.6
 19231|[F]|Oct. 6, |Rio Blanco, 20 km. |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1946   |  W Piedras Negras,|    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |    Veracruz       |30.5|13.2 |12.4| 4.8 |....|7.0 | 5.6
 37329| ? |        |alleged paratype   |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |  of _R. parvula_  |....|12.3 |11.3| 4.68|....|6.5 | 5.4
 73269|[F]|Jun. 12,|Santo Domingo,     |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1895   |  Oaxaca           |32.6|13.5 |12.5| 5.0 |8.5 |6.9 | 5.65
170858|[M]|Oct. 7, |La Tuxpana,        |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   | 1910   |  Champoton,       |    |     |    |     |    |    |
      |   |        |    Campeche       |26.7|12.4 |11.3| 4.5 |7.6 |6.5 | 4.9
------+---+--------+-------------------+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+-----


[A] The first three specimens and the last three are in the
United States National Museum; the others are in the University of
Kansas Museum of Natural History.


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|Transcriber's Notes:                    |
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|Left inconsistent usage of accents      |
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|Page 229: Changed Ishtmus to Isthmus    |
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|Footnote A: Changed Natoinal to National|
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