Natalus lanatus Tejedor 2005
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Natalidae
Natalus
Natalus lanatus

description: 8.
Woolly Funnel-eared Bat
Natalus lanatus
French: Natalide laineuse / German: \Wollhaariges Trichterohr / Spanish: Natéalido lanudo
Taxonomy. Natalus lanatus Tejedor, 2005,
“ 6 miles [= 9- 7 km] SSE of Las Varas, Nayarit, Mexico.”
Natalus lanatus is sometimes considered as a junior synonym of N. mexicanus. Monotypic.
Distribution. Mexico (from Chihuahua and N Veracruz S to Chiapas), NW & SW Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 40 mm, tail 47-55 mm, ear 12-15-6 mm, forearm 35-4-38-3 mm (males) and 35-4-38-6 mm (females); weight 5-6-5 g (males) and 5-6 g (females). Pelage is grayish to olive-buff and dull orange; dorsal and ventral hairs are always darker at bases than at tips; dorsal hairs are bicolored or tricolored, with dark bases, light middle parts, and medium-dark tips. There are dense mustache-like hair tufts along lateral margins of upper lip and on dorsum of muzzle. Medial lateral ear margin is straight; lateral ear margins are deeply concave; there are 0-3 ear pleats; ear pinna is funnel-shaped and broad, with moderately pointed tip. Natalid organ of males is relatively flat, elliptical to wedge-shaped, and extends onto crown. Wings attach to tibia above ankle; free margin of uropatagium has fringe of thin hairs; ungual tufts are present. Braincase is inflated and elongated; premaxilla is not inflated; maxilla dorsal to molars is convex and not inflated; postorbital region of skull in dorsal view has sides widely diverging rostrally; palate is present between pterygoids; caudal margins of maxilla in ventral view are almost perpendicular to longitudinal axis of skull; basisphenoid pits are shallow; mesostylar crest on third molar is absent.
Habitat. From dry mountain subtropical scrub with marked seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation (e.g. Chihuahua) through transition zone between pine/ oak and tropical deciduous forests (Durango) to perhumid (ever-wet) tropical montane cloud forest (Monteverde, Costa Rica). Most localities of Woolly Funnel-eared Bats for which coordinates are known with certainty correspond to mid-elevations of 500-2000 m. The record from Rio Macho, Costa Rica, a wet montane forest habitat (1300 m elevation, 2700 mm annual precipitation) without known caves, most likely corresponds to the Woolly Funnel-eared Bat than to the Mexican Funnel-eared Bat (N. mexicanus), given that the latter species has been collected in Costa Rica exclusively in lowland areas with abundant caves. Large caves or mines are not known in some of the locations where the Woolly Funnel-eared Bat has been mist-netted (e.g. Rio Savegre, Monteverde), suggesting that it might often use relatively small cavities as roosts.
Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but the Woolly Funnel-eared Batis certainly insectivorous.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. The Woolly Funnel-eared Bat is nocturnal. It probably resembles other species of Natalus in being a slow-flying insectivore that forages in low vegetation. Slight but consistently shorter legs and wingtips in the Woolly Funnel-eared Bat relative to the Mexican Funnel-eared Bat might reflect some ecological divergence between these two taxa.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Woolly Funnel-eared Bat has been found to coexist with eight other bat species in roosts.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. The Woolly Funnel-eared Bat is an infrequently encountered species and far less common than its sympatric congener, the Mexican Funnel-eared Bat. It is known from only 16 localities in Mexico, two in Nicaragua, and two in Costa Rica, and more than 50% of those locations is represented by a single museum specimen, either mist-netted while foraging or caught in unknown circumstances. Although rare, it has a wide distribution that likely includes the Guatemalan and Honduran highlands and thus should be much less vulnerable to threats than insular funnel-eared bats. Nevertheless, more data are needed before accurate conservation assessments can be undertaken.
Bibliography. Anderson (1972), Hall & Dalquest (1963), Lopez-Wilchis et al. (2012), Medina-Fitoria et al. (2015), Riba-Hernandez (1996), Rodriguez-Herrera (2004), Tejedor (2005, 2011).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Natalidae, pp. 589-596 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 594, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6811090