Family Mormoopidae
Mormoops blainvillei Leach, 1821
Figure 5A
Materials Examined. PUERTO RICO – Arecibo • Mata de Plátano Field Station and Nature Reserve; 18.414, -66.729; 151 m above sea level; Justin Matthew Bernstein, Camilo Andrés Calderón-Acevedo, Pedro Ivo Mônico, Lázaro Willian Viñola-Lopez, J. Angel Soto-Centeno; captured in six-meter mist net in open field 75 m south of field station between 6:45 PM and 8:30 PM; 1 ♂, ASC 1490; 1 ♀, ASC 1485.
Identification. The Antillean ghost-faced bat (M. blainvillei ) has a unique facial morphology that easily identifies it in the field. Nose-leaf absent, snout is short and adorned with skin folds, the skin flap in the lower lip is split in two, giving the appearance of paired leaflets. Fur bright orange/reddish, the ears are joined by a membrane across the head. The ears are broad and round, with the outer rims connecting to the lower lip which gives the eyes the appearance of being immersed in the ear, inside a funnel. Size small, total length = 78-87 mm (tail length =21 mm), forearm= 45–48 mm) (Gannon et al., 2005; Wilson, 2023a).
Pteronotus portoricensis Miller, 1902
Figure 5B
Materials Examined. PUERTO RICO – Arecibo • Mata de Plátano Field Station and Nature Reserve; 18.414, -66.729; 151 m above sea level; Justin Matthew Bernstein, Camilo Andrés Calderón-Acevedo, Pedro Ivo Mônico, Lázaro Willian Viñola-Lopez, J. Angel Soto-Centeno; captured in six-meter mist net in open field 75 m south of field station between 6:45 PM and 8:30 PM; 1 ♂, ASC 1492.
Identification. The Puerto Rican mustached bat (P. portoricensis ) has dark grey to greyish-brown fur coloration, with ventral hairs being paler. Nose-leaf absent, the snout protrudes more than in M. blainvillei , with the skin flap in the lower lip continuous and not split. The ears are pointed and with straight edges, not joined in the middle, eye position normal. It can only be confused with P. quadridens , however its considerably larger with a total length of 78–83 mm, and a forearm over 44 mm. Additionally it possesses a fleshy knob above the snout, which is lacking in P. quadridens (Gannon et al., 2005; Pavan, 2023).
Pteronotus quadridens Gundlach, 1840
Figure 5C
Materials Examined. PUERTO RICO – Arecibo • Mata de Plátano Field Station and Nature Reserve; 18.414, -66.729; 151 m above sea level; Justin Matthew Bernstein, Camilo Andrés Calderón-Acevedo, Pedro Ivo Mônico, Lázaro Willian Viñola-Lopez, J. Angel Soto-Centeno; captured in six-meter mist net in open field 75 m south of field station between 6:45 PM and 8:30 PM; 2 ♂, ASC 1484, ASC 1486; 3 ♀, ASC 1484, 1489, ASC 1491.
Identification. The sooty mustached bat (P. quadridens ) has greyish-brown fur with tricolored individual hairs. Nose-leaf absent, as in P. portoricensis, the snout protrudes more than inM. blainvillei , with the skin flap in the lower lip continuous and not split. The ears are pointed and with straight edges, not joined in the middle, eye position normal. Considerably smaller than P. portoricensis, total length = 59–80 mm, forearm length = 36–39 millimeters. Can be discriminated from P. portoricensis by having a row of three to five small bulbs above each nostril, and the lack of a fleshy knob above the snout (Gannon et al., 2005; Wilson, 2023b).