OCCASIONAL PAPERS

THE MUSEUM

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

NUMBER 34

18 JULY 1975

A NEW SPECIES OF EPTESICUS FROM GUADELOUPE,
LESSER ANTILLES (CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE)

Hugh H. Genoways and Robert J. Baker

In the course of field studies on bats of the Antillean region, three
specimens of the genus Eptesicus were obtained on the island of
Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles. The nearest known populations
of this genus are on Puerto Rico 500 kilometers to the west ( E. fuscus
wetmorei ), on the northern coast of South America 850 kilometers
to the southwest ( E . fuscus miradorensis), and on Tobago 550 kilo¬
meters to the south ( E . brasiliensis melanopterus). Study of the speci¬
mens from Guadeloupe reveals that they represent a distinct species
that is most closely related to Eptesicus fuscus. This new species is
named and described below.

Eptesicus guadeloupensis, new species

Holotype. —Adult male, skin and skull, no. 19902 The Museum,
Texas Tech University (TTU); from 2 km. S, 2 km. E Baie-Mahault,
Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe; obtained on 29 July 1974 by R. J. Baker
and H. H. Genoways; original no. 74M338 of J. W. Bickham; karyo¬
type no. 8286.

Geographic distribution. —Known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis. —Largest New World member of the genus Eptesicus ;
characterized by especially large ears and long tibia.

Description .—Cranial size large, particularly reflected in measure¬
ments of cranial length (Table 1); skull similar to that of E. fuscus
but proportionally longer and narrower (Fig. 1); ears unusually long
for a North American member of the genus (Fig. 2); other external
dimensions, except forearm, longer than in E. fuscus ; membranes
black; pelage black basally, both dorsally and ventrally; upperparts

Table 1. — External and cranial measurements of two species of the genus Eptesicus.

2

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GENOWAYS AND BAKER—NEW SUBSPECIES OF EPTESICUS

3

Fig. 1.— Dorsal and ventral views of the crania of Eptesicus fuscus wetmorei
(left), 'ITU 8930, male, 1 mi. W Corozal, Puerto Rico, and E. guadeloupensis
(right), TTU 19902, male, 2 km. S, 2 km. E Baie-Mahault, Basse-Terre, Guade¬
loupe. Scale equals five millimeters.

4

OCCASIONAL PAPERS MUSEUM TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

Fig. 2.— Photograph of the adult male holotype of Eptesicus guadeloupensis
in life.

having hairs tipped with a dark, chocolate brown; underparts pale,
hairs tipped with dark buff to almost white in some areas. Karyotype
(Fig. 3) as in other members of the genus (Baker and Patton, 1967),
2N=50, FN = 48; all autosomes acrocentric, X-chromosome sub-
metacentric, Y-chromosome acrocentric.

Measurements .—Measurements for the three known specimens,
along with measurements of selected specimens of E. fuscus , are given
in Table 1. For additional measurements of E. fuscus see Engels
(1936), Villa-R. (1967), Lowery (1974), Miller (1897, 1918), and
Allen and Sanborn (1937).

Comparisons.—Eptesicus guadeloupensis needs direct comparison
only with E. fuscus. E. guadeloupensis is considerably larger than
any of the other North American species in the genus and can be dis¬
tinguished easily from them on size alone (see Davis, 1965, 1966).

From E. fuscus , E. guadeloupensis can be distinguished cranially
by greater measurements of length (Fig. 1), which are clearly beyond
the range of variation for fuscus. In some measurements of cranial
breadth, such as zygomatic breadth, mastoid breadth, and breadth

GENOWAYS AND BAKER—NEW SUBSPECIES OF EPTESICUS

5

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Fig. 3.— Karyotype of the adult male holotype of Eptesicus guadeloupensis
(TTU 19902).

across upper molars, E. guadeloupensis is matched in size by some
large individuals of E. f miradorensis. Even for breadth measure¬
ments, guadeloupensis is at the upper range of variation for fuscus.

The new species has surprisingly large ears, unequaled in any popu¬
lation of E. fuscus (Fig. 2). In most other standard external measure¬
ments, guadeloupensis is larger than fuscus, this is not true, however,
for the forearm, which is longer in several specimens of E. f
miradorensis listed in Table 1. Another unique characteristic of
guadeloupensis is the long tibia, longer than in any population of E.
fuscus of which we are aware (see Table 1; Miller, 1897:103; Villa-R.,
1967:401). The longest tibial measurement for Eptesicus fuscus
known to us is 22 for two specimens from Veracruz and one from
Costa Rica recorded by Miller (1897:103), whereas the shortest for
E. guadeloupensis , as can be seen in Table 1, is 24.4.

The coloration of our three specimens is somewhat variable. The
holotype and one female (TTU 19903) are darker and approach the
coloration of specimens of E. f wetmorei examined from Puerto Rico.
The other male (TTU 19901) is somewhat paler and resembles in
color the single specimen of E. f miradorensis examined from
Honduras.

The karyotype of E. guadeloupensis is typical of that for other
members of Eptesicus in North America, and reveals no unique
characteristic.

Remarks.—Eptesicus guadeloupensis clearly is a member of the
fuscus- group as defined by Davis (1966). The main question that then
arises is whether it is conspecific with E. fuscus or represents a distinct
species. We have chosen the latter option. However, this hypothesis
cannot be tested in the usual manner for mainland populations, be¬
cause interbreeding under natural conditions between insular popula¬
tions is not possible, or at least highly improbable.

6

OCCASIONAL PAPERS MUSEUM TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

We have chosen to recognize E. guadeloupensis as a distinct species
because it possesses a suite of characters that fall outside the range of
variation of Eptesicus fuscus. Upon initial inspection, the enlarged
ears are the most noticeable of these characteristics. The cranial length
of E. guadeloupensis is greater than in E. fuscus although some indi¬
viduals of the latter approach or match the new species in some
measurements of cranial breadth. The skull of E. guadeloupensis thus
is proportionally longer and narrower than that of E. fuscus. Another
unique character of the new species is the unusually long tibia.

Considering the Recent distribution of the genus, two routes of in¬
vasion of Guadeloupe are possible. The nearest known population of
Eptesicus fuscus is located on Puerto Rico 500 kilometers to the
northwest and this would seem to be the most likely source of the
population on Guadeloupe. However, immigration also could have
come from the mainland of South America, approximately 850 kilo¬
meters to the southwest (vicinity of Caracas, Venezuela). Bats from
this area more closely approach E. guadeloupensis in size than do
specimens of E. fuscus wetmorei from Puerto Rico. In any case, occu¬
pation of Guadeloupe may have resulted from a steplike effect through
other Lesser Antillean islands on which the genus evidently no longer
occurs. In this connection, the record of E. fuscus from Barbados
(Dobson, 1878), which generally has been discounted by recent
authors (Jones and Phillips, 1970; Koopman, 1968), should be re¬
evaluated.

Although only three specimens of the new species were captured,
we saw numerous individuals of a large vespertilionid bat flying about
the forest at the type locality. Conditions under which the three
examples of E. guadeloupensis were taken will be discussed in a
future paper dealing with the bat fauna of Guadeloupe.

Specimens examined.—Eptesicus guadeloupensis. Guadeloupe: 2 km. S, 2
km. E Baie-Mahault, Basse-Terre, 3 (TTU).

Eptesicus fuscus. Puerto Rico: t mi. W Corozal, 2 (TTU); El Verde, 1
(TTU); El Yunque Forest, I (TTU); San German, 5 (AMNH). Guatemala:
Chicharac, 1 (AMNH); 5 mi. S Guatemala City, 2 (KU); Tecpam, 1 (AMNH).
Honduras: 10 mi. W Tegucigalpa, 1 (TTU). Venezuela: Carretera del Valle,
1 (AMNH); Rancho Grande, 2 (AMNH).

Acknowledgments

Field work for this study was supported by a grant from the
National Science Foundation (GB 41105). Laboratory phases of the
investigation were supported by the Institute of Museum Research,
Texas Tech University. We are particularly grateful to John W. Bick-
ham and John C. Patton, who accompanied us during field work that

GENOWAYS AND BAKER—NEW SUBSPECIES OF EPTESICUS

7

resulted in this paper. We also wish to thank Dr. Karl F. Koopman,
American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), and Dr. Robert S.
Hoffmann, University of Kansas (KU), for loan of comparative
material.

Literature Cited

Allen, G. M., and C. C. Sanborn. 1937. Notes on bats from the Bahamas.
J. Mamm., 18:226-228.

Baker, R. J., and J. L. Patton. 1967. Karyotypes and karyotypic variation
of North American vespertilionid bats. J. Mamm., 48:270-286.

Davis, W. B. 1965. Review of the Eptesicus brasiliensis complex in Middle
America with the description of a new subspecies from Costa Rica.
J. Mamm., 46:229-240.

-. 1966. Review of South American bats of the genus Eptesicus.

Southwestern Nat., 11:245-274.

Dobson, G. E. 1878. Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the collection of the
British Museum. British Museum (Nat. Hist.), London, xlii + 567

pp.

Engels, W. L. 1936. Distribution of races of the brown bat ( Eptesicus)
in western North America. Amer. Midland Nat., 17:653-660.

Jones, J. K., Jr., and C. J. Phillips. 1970. Comments on systematics and
zoogeography of bats in the Lesser Antilles. Studies on the Fauna
of Curacao and other Caribbean Islands, 32:131-145.

Koopman, K. F. 1968. Taxonomic and distributional notes on Lesser Antil¬
lean bats. Amer. Mus. Novit., 2333:1-13.

Lowery, G. H., Jr. 1974. The mammals of Louisiana and its adjacent
waters. Louisiana State Univ. Press, Baton Rouge, xxiii-l- 565 pp.
Miller, G. S., Jr. 1897. Revision of the North American bats of the family
Vespertilionidae. N. Amer. Fauna, 13:1-135.

-. 1918. Three new bats from Haiti and Santo Domingo. Proc. Biol.

Soc. Washington, 31:39-40.

Villa-R., B. 1967. Los murcielagos de Mexico. Univ. Nac. Auto. Mexico,
xvi + 491 pp.

Addresses of authors: Hugh H. Genoways, The Museum ; Robert J. Baker,
The Museum and Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, 79409. Received 18 February, accepted 3 March 1975.

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