Abstract
The sole Cuban representative of the bat genus Natalus, described as a fossil in 1919, was rediscovered in 1992 as an extant colony in a cave in the western tip of the island. Other extant Greater Antillean populations of this genus were known before from Jamaica and Hispaniola and, together with the fossil Natalus from Cuba, were considered synonyms of the continental species Natalus stramineus. Morphometric comparison of the living Cuban Natalus with other West Indian and mainland populations of the genus supports the taxonomic separation of the Greater Antillean populations of Natalus from Natalus stramineus. We hypothesize that Natalus major has a relatively high extinction potential due to its probable limited capacity for dispersal, and to its specialization in scarce hot-caves. We suggest that dependence on roosts of unreliable permanence probably introduces a high degree of stochasticity in the process of extinction of obligate cave-dwelling bats.
Zusammenfassung
Der einzige kubanische Vertreter der Fledermausgattung Natatus wurde im Jahr 1919 als Fossil beschrieben und im Jahr 1992 als eine Lebende Kolonie in einer Höhle auf der westlichen Spitze der Insel wiedergefunden. Auf den Großen Antillen waren andere Populationen dieser Gattung schon aus Jamaica und Hispaniola bekannt. Zusammen mit dem fossilen Natalus-Exemplar aus Kuba wurden sie als synonym mit der kontinentalen Art Natatus stramineus betrachtet. Morphometrische Vergleiche der lebenden kubanischen Natalus-Exemplare mit anderen westindischen Populationen und Populationen der Gattung vom Festland unterstützen jedoch die taxonomische Trennung der Natalus-Populationen von den Großen Antillen von Natatus stramineus. Wir stellen die Hypothese auf, daß Natatus major aufgrund seiner wahrscheinlich begrenzten Ausbreitungsfähigkeit und seiner Spezialisation auf seltene warme Höhlen ein relativ hohes Aussterbepotential hat. Wir nehmen an, daß die Abhängigkeit von permanenten aber erforderlichen Quartieren wahrscheinlich einen hohen Grad von Stochastizität in dem Aussterbeprozeß von obligaten Höhlen bewohnenden Fledermäusen bedingt.
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Tejedor, A., Silva-Taboada, G. & Rodríguez-Hernández, D. Discovery of extant Natalus major (Chiroptera: Natalidae) in Cuba. Mamm Biol 69, 153–162 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1078/1616-5047-00130
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1078/1616-5047-00130