Emballonuridae Gervais, 1855 (Chiroptera) of Reserva Biológica de Saltinho (Atlantic Forest), in Brazil, revealed by echolocation

Abstract

Seventeen species of emballonurid bats are known in Brazil, but their distribution is often determined by patchy records. However, due to almost species-specific calls, echolocation can help to refine the distribution of emballonurids. Here we use acoustic samplings to assess and complement the list of emballonurids of Reserva Biológica Saltinho, an important Atlantic Forest remnant in Pernambuco state, Northeastern Brazil. We positively matched calls of Saccopteryx bilineata (Temminck, 1838) that was foraging along forest edges. However, a series of calls significantly different from those emitted by S. bilineata indicate the presence of a second Saccopteryx sonotype in the area. The lower frequencies in this sonotype presumably came from a larger species, indicating the possible existence of an undescribed cryptic species of Saccopteryx. We also detected Centronycteris maximiliani (Fischer, 1829), recorded 35 years after its first record in Pernambuco, and an undetermined species of Peropteryx Peters, 1867. Our data proved that echolocation is a very useful technique for inventorying poorly known and hard-to-capture emballonurid species, with the potential to reveal the cryptic richness.