Occasional Papers

Museum of Texas Tech University

NUMBER 176

1 MAY 1998

TWO NEW SUBSPECIES OF BATS OF THE GENUS STURNIRA
FROM THE LESSER ANTILLES, WEST INDIES

Hugh H. Genoways

The last systematic review of the yellow-shoul¬
dered bats of the Neotropical genus Sturnira in the
Lesser Antilles was in 1976 (Jones and Phillips, 1976).
At that point in time, two species —Sturnira lilium and
Sturnira thomasi —were known from these islands.
Sturnira lilium was represented by five subspecies,
beginning with Trinidad and moving northward, these
subspecies were lilium on Trinidad (Goodwin and
Greenhall, 1961), paulsoni on St Vincent (de la Torre
and Schwartz, 1966), luciae on St. Lucia (Jones and
Phillips, 1976), zygomaticus on Martinique (Jones and
Phillips, 1976), and angeli on Dominica (de la Torre,
1966).

By way of contrast to Sturnira lilium , S. thomasi
is endemic to the Antilles, with a single population de¬
scribed from the island of Guadeloupe. Interestingly,
S. thomasi must either be rare or difficult to capture in
mist nets (or both) because the original description of
this species was based upon a single specimen (de la
Torre and Schwartz, 1966). Koopman (1968) was “in¬
clined to regard paulsoni , angelic and even thomasi as
successive modifications of lilium out of contact with
other species of Sturnira ” In the case of S. thomasi ,
this recommendation has not been supported by subse¬
quent authors (Genoways and Jones, 1975; Jones and
Phillips, 1976; Baker and Genoways, 1978; Baker et
ai., 1978; Owen, 1987; Koopman, 1989, 1993; Jones,

1989; Pacheco and Patterson, 1991; Pedersen et ai,,
1996). Genoways and Jones (1975) and Owen (1987)
have reported an additional six specimens of S. thomasi
from Guadeloupe.

The genus Sturnira thus was known from five is¬
lands in the Lesser Antilles with Guadeloupe being the
furthest north. Of the Lesser Antillean islands to the
south of Guadeloupe, according to Jones and Phillips
(1976), representatives of the genus Sturnira were not
known from Marie Galante, Barbados, The Grenadines,
and Grenada. Subsequent to the paper by Jones and
Phillips (1976), members of the genus have been cap¬
tured on Grenada (reported herein) and Montserrat,
which lies about 55 km to the northwest of Guadeloupe
(Pedersen et al., 1996). Study of these specimens has
convinced me that these populations represent two
undescribed subspecies, which are characterized and
named below.

In the two accounts below, all measurements are
given in millimeters. Statistical analyses were per¬
formed using the St at Gew® software package (Sager,
1992). The paired t-test gave statistical significance of
differences in group means. I am grateful to the follow¬
ing people for allowing me access to specimens housed
in their research collection: the lafe Karl F, Koopman,
American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); Rob-

2

OCCASIONAL PAPERS, MUSEUM OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

ert M. Timm, University of Kansas (KU); Robert J.
Baker, Texas Tech University (TTU); Suzanne B.
McLaren, Carnegie Museum ofNatural History (CM);
Patricia W. Freeman, University of Nebraska State
Museum (UNSM). 1 also wish to thank my field com¬

panions, who were involved in collecting these bats:
Robert J. Baker, Carleton J. Phillips, Dorothy Pumo,
and Scott Pedersen. Figure 1 was prepared by Angie
Fox, Staff Artist, University ofNebraska State Museum.

DESCRIPTIONS

Sturnira lilium serotinus

new subspecies

Holotype. — Adult male, skin and skull, UNSM
16493, from Birch Grove, St. Andrew Parish, Grenada;
obtained by Hugh H. Genoways on 26 May 1987, origi¬
nal no. HHG 5609.

Etymology .— serotinus Latin, meaning happen¬
ing late; referring to the fact that the description of this
subspecies is happening late in comparison to other
Antillean populations o f Sturnira lilium.

Distribution .— Known only from Grenada (Fig.

1 ).

Diagnosis. — Forearm short for Antillean repre¬
sentatives of the species; cranium narrow (Table 1); the
first upper molar with a small anterior labial shelf and
a prominent metacone; second upper molar with a
poorly-developed anterior labial shelf; third upper mo¬
lar of average size; in the first lower molar the paraconid
is located near the lingual edge of the tooth so that the
paraconid, metaconid, and entoconid nearly forma lin¬
ear lingual sequence; entoconid well developed into an
elongate cone; third lower molar small with only two
cuspids with the lingual the larger of the two; the pel-
age is a reddish to yellowish brown with the “ydlow
shoulders” present.

Comparisons. — Morphometrically, the speci¬
mens from Grenada have a length of forearm that is
significantly smaller than those of the other Antillean
populations (Table 1), but is matched by S. I lilium
from Trinidad. In length measurements of the cranium,
the Grenada population matches those from the Antillean
islands and Trinidad for greatest length of skull, and in
length of maxillary toothrow, the Grenada population
does not significantly differ from populations of S. lilium

on Trinidad, Martinique, and Dominica, but is signifi¬
cantly longer than the toothrow of specimens from St.
Lucia and St. Vincent. In three measurements of the
width of the cranium (postorbital constriction, mastoid
breath, and breadth across upper molars), the popula¬
tion on Grenada has a significantly narrower cranium
than all populations except in breadth of mastoid of
specimens from Martinique where there is no signifi¬
cant difference. In the fourth cranial breadth measure¬
ment, zygomatic breadth, the Grenada population was
significantly smaller than S. I. lilium from Trinidad and
S. i zygomaticus from Martinique.

In characteristics of the first upper molar, the
specimens from Grenada most closely resemble those
from Trinidad in the reduction of the anterior labial shelf
and next most closely resemble the Dominica and the
Martinique populations, with the populations from St.
Lucia and St. Vincent having the most highly devel¬
oped anterior labial shelf. The third upper molars is
smallest in the Dominican population and largest in the
St. Lucian population, with populations from St. Vincent,
Martinique, Grenada, and Trinidad on the averaging an
intermediate size between these extremes (Jones and
Phillips, 1976).

The morphology of the lower first molar groups
the Grenada population with populations on St. Lucia
and St. Vincent where the paraconid is located on the
lingual edge of the tooth so that the paraconid, meta¬
conid, and entoconid form a linear lingual sequence and
the entoconid is enlarged as opposed to the condition
found in populations from Trinidad, Martinique, and
Dominica where the paraconid is located nearer to the
center line of the tooth than the lingual margin so that
the paraconid does not form a linear lingual sequence
with the metaconid and entoconid and the entoconid is
a low ridge. The third lower molar of the Grenada popu¬
lation was the smallest among the populations exam¬
ined with only two cuspids present.

s a red-

Trinid

>aler be-

variati

ic genus

m from

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OCCASIONAL PAPERS, MUSEUM OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

Table 1 .— Forearm and cranial measurements of six subspecies o/ Sturnira lilium from the southern Lesser
Antilles and Trinidad. Testing for significant differences between the means of S. 1. serotinus and the other

subspecies was performed using paired t-tests.

Measurements and statistics

serotinus

lilium

paulsoni iuciae

zygomaticus

angeli

Length of forearm

N

6

10

6

8

8

10

Mean

42.0

42.3

43.3*

43.9**

43.6**

43.6*

Range

40.142.6

40.8-44.3

42.6-44.2

42.7-44.8

42.8-45,0

41.7-45.2

±SE

±0.39

±0.35

±0.23

±0.25

± 0.29

± 0.37

Greatest length of skull

N

6

10

6

8

8

10

Mean

22.7

23.0

23.1

22.6

22.7

23.1

Range

21,8-23.3

22.2-23.6

22.7-23.5

22.1-23.0

22.4-23.0

22,7-23.7

± SE

±0.22

±0.15

±0. 17

±0.15

± 0.07

±0.11

Zygomatic breadth

N

6

10

6

8

8

10

Mean

13.0

13.5*

13.2

13.2

13.5*

13.0

Range

12.8-13.3

12.844.2

12.8-13.5

12.8-13.7

13.0-13.9

12.7-13.2

± SE

±0.08

±0.13

±0.08

±0.10

± 0.10

±0.08

Postorbital constriction

N

6

10

6

8

8

10

Mean

5.7

6.1***

5.9**

9* *

6.0**

5.9*

Range

5.5-5.8

5.7-6.3

5.7-6.0

58-6.2

5.6-6.3

5.7-6.4

± SE

±0.04

±0.07

± 0.05

±0.06

±0.07

±0.07

Mastoid breadth

N

6

10

6

8

8

10

Mean

11.5

12.0**

11,8*

11,8*

117

11.8*

Range

11.141.7

11.6-12.7

11.6-12.1

11.2-12.1

11.3-11.9

11.542.1

dtSE

± 0.10

± 0. H

± 0.09

± 0.10

±0.08

± 0.08

Length of maxillary toothrow

N

6

10

6

6

8

10

Mean

6,7

6.8

6.4***

6.4**

6.7

6.8

Range

6,6-6.8

6.4-7.1

6.3-6.5

6.2-66

6.5-6.8

6.5-7.0

± SE

± 0,03

±0.07

±0,03

± 0.07

±0,05

±0.08

Breadth across upper molars

N

6

10

6

7

8

10

Meap

7.8

8.1***

8.0*

8.0**

8.3***

g 1***

Range

7.7-8.0

7.9-8.5

7.8-8.3

7.8-8.1

8.1-8.5

7.9-8.3

± SE

± 0.05

± 0.06

± 0.08

± 0.04

± 0.05

± 0.04

km B Vendome, St. George Parish, 12°05’ N, 61°42.5'
W, 4 (CM).

Comparative specimens examined .— Sturnira
lilium angeli : Clarke Hall Estate, 100 ft., St. Joseph

Parish, Dominica, 5 (K.U); l mi from mouth of Layou
River, St. Joseph Parish, Dominica, 2 (ITU); Mt. Joy
Estate, St. Paul Parish, Dominica, 3 (TTU); Springfield,
St. Paul Parish, Dominica, 2 (TTU). Sturnira lilium

GENOWAYS— NEW SUBSPECIES OF STURNIRA

5

lilium: Caura Valley, Trinidad, i (KU); Guayaguayare,
Trinidad, 1 (KU); Las Cuevas, Trinidad, 2 (TTU); St.
George, San Rafael, Trinidad, 8 (ITU). Stumira lilium
luciae: 1/2 mi, SE Bogius, 100 ft., Dauphin Parish, St.
Lucia, 7 (KU); Union Agricultural Station, 100 ft., Gros-
Islet Parish, St. Lucia, 1 (KU); 1 1/2 km E Marigot
Bay, St. Lucia, 1 (UNSM). Stumira lilium paulsoni :
Clifton Hill, 400 ft., St. George Parish, St. Vincent, 6
(KU), Stumira lilium zygomaticus: Balata, Martinique,
10(AMNH).

Comments. — The population of Stumira lilium
on Grenada can be distinguished from populations to
the north in the Antilles by its shorter length of forearm
and from populations both to the north and south in hav¬
ing a much narrower cranium, which is especially evi¬
dent in postorbital constriction, mastoid breadth, and
breadth across upper molars. It probably is more dis¬
tinctive in these morphological characters than are other
Antillean populations from each other. In characteris¬
tics of the maxillary and mandibular dentition, S . /.
serotinus displays a unique combination of character¬
istics, but with the possible exception of the m3, these
characteristics are within the range of characters dis¬
played by the other Antillean populations. The m3 of
S. L serotinus appears to be smaller than in other popu¬
lations with only two distinct cuspids; however, given
the variability ofthis tooth, more individuals need to be
examined before the validity of this characteristic can
be determined.

The specimens from Grenada came from higher
elevation (Vendome at 300 m) and wet interior valleys
of the island (Birch Grove). No specimen was taken in
the dry coastal areas of the island despite considerable
collecting effort in this area. Three specimens were
captured in nets over a branch of the Balthazar River
and an adjacent area behind the Police Station in Birch
Grove. The vegetation in the area was a mixture of
fruit and native trees. There was no canopy over the
fairly broad river, which contains huge boulders with
water braiding among them. At Vendome, nets were
set over a small stream as it emerged from Grand Etang
Forest Reserve. The stream was one of the small upper
tributaries of the Beausejour River, which enters the
Caribbean Sea approximately 5 km to the west-north¬
west. The habitat at this site was characterized by wet,
dense montane forest, which became fairly open under
the canopy away from disturbed areas. More informa¬

tion on the natural history of the new taxon will appear
in Genoways et al. (1998).

Stumira thomasi vulcanensis

new subspecies

Holotype .— Adult female, skin, skull, and par¬
tial skeleton, UNSM 20062. from Paradise Estate, 1
kilometer S Harris [1000 m], St. George’s Parish,
Montserrat; obtained by Scott C. Pedersen on 14 May
1994, original no. SCP 261.

Etymology .— Vulcan was the Roman God of Fire
or Volcanoes; -ensis Latin, meaning place, country, or
land; thus, the name is intended to mean the place of
fire or volcanoes referring to the Soufriere that has se¬
riously damaged the natural habitats and the lives of
the citizens of Montserrat with its recent eruptions.

Distribution. — Known only from Montserrat
(Fig. 1).

Diagnosis. — The holotype was compared with
two specimens of Stumira thomasi thomasi and two
specimens of Antillean Stumira lilium to establish its
specific identity. The holotype is morphologically simi¬
lar to the S. thomasi in the characters used to differen¬
tiated. thomasi and S. lilium , including a relatively large
skull with a long, narrow cranium (Genoways and Jones,
1975; Jones and Phillips. 1976).

The holotype of 5. t. vulcanensis differs from the
specimens of S. t. thomasi from Guadeloupe in that its
cranium is proportionally and absolutely narrower al¬
though of the same length (see measurements below)
and all crests and ridges are less pronounced, especially
noticeable in the sagittal crest. The pelage of the holo-
type is uniformly grayish brown dorsally and ventrally
and lacks the “yellow shoulder” characteristic of the
genus, whereas the pelage of specimens from
Guadeloupe is reddish brow n and reddish-yellow shoul¬
der is clearly evident.

Forearm and cranial measurements of the holo¬
type followed by measurements of two specimens from
Guadeloupe are as follows: length of forearm, 44.7,
46.1, 47.7; greatest length of skull, 24.9, 24.9, 25.1;
condylobasal length, 23.3, 22.9, 23.6; zygomatic

6

OCCASIONAL PAPERS, MUSEUM OF TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

breadth, 11.6, 12.2, 12.5; mastoid breadth, 10.9, 11.7,
11.8; breadth ofbraincase, 9.3, 9.8, 9.6; breadth of in¬
terorbital constriction, 5.8, 5.9, 6.0; breadth of the pos¬
torbital constriction, 5.8, 5.5, 5.9; length of maxillary
toothrow, 7.3, 6.9, 6.9; width across upper molars, 7.6,
8.0,8.0; length of mandibular toothrow (i-m2), 8.4,7.7,
7.8. The holotype lacks the m3 on both sides of the
mandible as do both the specimens from Guadeloupe.

Specimen examined (1).— Montserrat: Paradise
Estate, 1 km S Harris [1000 m], St. George’s Parish, 1
(UNSM).

Comparative specimens examined .— Sturnira
thomasi thomasi: 1 km W Vernou. Basse-Terre,
Guadeloupe, I (TTU); 1 km S, 4 km W Vernou, Basse-
Terre, Guadeloupe, 1 (TTU). Sturnira lilium serotinus:
Birch Grove, St. Andrew Parish, Grenada, 2 (UNSM).

Comments .— This unique specimen was first re¬
ported by Pedersen et al. (1996). It was thought at that
time that it would be best to await additional specimens

before formally describing this new taxon. However,
with the natural disaster currently occurring on
Montserrat because of volcanic eruptions, it is believed
that it is best to get this taxon recorded and recognized
in the scientific literature. Because this population was
probably confined to the more mesic and older vegeta¬
tion on the slopes of the Soufriere, there seems to be a
reasonable chance that this new taxon is now extinct.
The holotype was pregnant when captured so a breed¬
ing population did occur on the island at that time.

Sturnira possibly is relatively uncommon on many
of the Antillean islands where it occurs and unlike some
fruit bats possibly needs native humid forest instead of
tropical agriculture to flourish. The morphological data
all point to the fact that these bats apparently do not
migrate very well and therefore gene flow is frequently
interrupted. Low population levels on the various is¬
lands could contribute to the pattern in two ways: 1) no
intraland pressure to disperse long distances and 2)
greater possibility of local genetic drift and consequent
subspecific geographic differences.

LITERATURE CITED

Baker, R. J., and H. H. Genoways, 1978. Zoogeogra¬
phy of Antillean bats. Pp. 53-97, in Zoogeog¬
raphy in the Caribbean: The 1975 Leidy Medal
Symposium (F. B. Gill, ed,), Special Publica¬
tion, Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila¬
delphia, 13 : HI + 1-128.

Baker, R. J., H. H. Genoways, and J. C. Patton. 1978.
Bats of Guadeloupe. Occasional Papers of the
Museum, Texas Tech University, 50: 1-16.

de la Torre, L. 1966. New bats of the genus Sturnira
(Phyllostomidae) from the Amazonian low¬
lands of Peru and the Windward Islands, West
Indies. Proceedings of Biological Society
Washington, 79: 267-272.

de la Torre, L., and A. Schwartz. 1966. New species
of Sturnira (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from
the island of Guadeloupe and Saint Vincent,
Lesser Antilles. Proceedings of Biological
Society Washington, 79: 297-303.

Genoways, H, H., and J. K. Jones, Jr. 1975. Addi¬
tional records of the stenodermine bat, Sturnira
thomasi, from the Lesser Antillean island of
Guadeloupe. Journal ofMammalogy, 56:924-
925.

Genoways, H. H., C. J. Phillips, and R. J. Baker. 1998.
Bats of the Antillean island of Grenada: A new
zoogeographic perspective. Occasional Papers
ofthe Museum, Texas Tech University, in press.

Goodwin, G. G., and A. M. Greenhall. 1961. A re¬
view of the bats of Trinidad and Tobago. Bul¬
letin ofthe American Museum of Natural His¬
tory, 122: 187-302.

Jones, J. K., Jr. 1989. Distribution and systematics of
bats in the Lesser Antilles. Pp. 645-660, in
Biogeography ofthe West Indies (C. A. Woods,
ed.). Sandhill Crane Press, Inc., Gainesville,
FL, xvii + 878 pp.

GENOWAYS— NEW SUBSPECIES OF STURNIRA

7

Jones, J. K., Jr., and C. J. Phillips. 1976. Bats of the
genus Stumira in the Lesser Antilles. Occa¬
sional Papers of the Museum, Texas Tech Uni¬
versity, 40: 1-16.

Koopman, K. F. 1968. Taxonomic and distributional
notes on Lesser Antillean bats. American
Museum Novitates, 2333: 1-13.

_. 1989. A review and analysis of the bats of the

West Indies. Pp. 635-644, in Biogeography of
the West Indies (C. A, Woods, ed), Sandhill
Crane Press, Inc., Gainesville, FL, xvii 4 878

pp.

_. 1993. Order Chiroptera. Pp. 137-241, in

Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic
and Geographic Refemence(D. E. Wilson and
D. M. Reeder, eds.), Smithsonian Institution
Press, Washington, DC, second ed„ xviii +
1207 pp.

Owen, R. D. 1987. Phylogenetic analyses of the bat
subfamily Stenodermatidae (Mammalia:
Chiroptera). Special Publication of the Mu¬
seum, Texas Tech University, 26: 1-65.

Pacheco, V., and B. D. Patterson. 1991. Phylogenetic
relationships of the New World bat genus
Stumira (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Pp.
101-121, in Contributions to mammalogy in
honor of Karl F. Koopman (T. A. Griffiths and
D. Klingener, eds.), Bulletin of the American
Museum of Natural History, 206: 1-432.

Pedersen, S. C., H. H. Genoways. and P. W. Freeman.
1996. Notes on bats from Montserrat (Lesser
Anti lles) with comments concerning the effects
ofHurricane Hugo. Caribbean Journal ofSci-
ence, 32: 206-213.

Sager, S. 1992. StatVieW*. Abacus Concepts, Inc.,
Berkeley, CA, x + 466 pp.

Address of Author:

HUGH H. GENOWAYS

University of Nebraska State Museum, and

School of Natural Resource Sciences

W436 Nebraska Hall

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Lincoln , NE 68588-0514

e-mail . hge noway (if uni info. uni. edu

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It was through the efforts of Horn Professor J Knox Jones, as director of Academic Publications, that Texas
Tech University initiated several publications series including the Occasional Papers of the Museum. This and
future editions in the series are a memorial to his dedication to excellence in academic publications. Professor
Jones enjoyed editing scientific publications and served the scientific community as an editor for the Journal of
Mammalogy, Evolution, The Texas Journal of Science, Occasional Papers of the Museum, and Special Publica¬
tions of the Museum. It is with special fondness that we remember Dr. J Knox Jones,

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