New bat locality records from Cuba with emphasis on the province of Matanzas

Abstract

Here we provide a compilation of bat distribution records based on neontological and paleontological data, updating the known distribution in Matanzas province, the Isle of Pines, and Central Cuba. From 97 collecting localities in the Province of Matanzas, we report 27 taxa out of the 34 known from the Cuban archipelago; 21 of them are extant while the other six are extinct. Antrozous koopmani and Natalus primus are considered locally extinct in Matanzas, as in most of the archipelago today, but had a wider distribution in the past that lasted until very late in the Holocene. The extinct endemics, Artibeus anthonyi, and Phyllops vetus, are reported for the first time in the province, and the distribution records of Phyllops falcatus, Lasiurus pfeifferi, Lasiurus insularis, Chilonatalus macer, and Eumops ferox are updated and expanded. These records make Matanzas the second richest province in bat diversity of the Cuban archipelago and an area of considerable conservation potential.

Keywords

• bats
• matanzas
• fossils
• cuba
• extinction
• biogeography