New state record and range extension of the Big Crested Mastiff Bat , Promops centralis Thomas , 1915 ( Chiroptera , Molossidae ) , in Veracruz , Mexico

The diversity of bats in the Mexican state of Veracruz is high, comprising 89 species. Many of these species deserve special attention because either they remain underrepresented in collections, or they are known from fewer than 5 localities. We confirm the presence of the Big Crested Mastiff Bat (Promops centralis) in Veracruz, and provide additional occurrence records that extend the known geographic distribution of this species by 216 km to the north from previously known sites. Our new record represents the northernmost record of the species on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico. Our findings highlight the presence of gaps in past surveys of mammalian diversity in Veracruz.

Molossid species occurring in the state of Veracruz are underrepresented in scientific collections; the only NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION records of P. c. centralis in Veracruz are based on 2 museum specimens, both collected in the same locality in 1895 (Coates et al. 2017).Natural history information on P. centralis is scarce (Eger 2008).Promops centralis presents a seasonal monoestry pattern of reproduction, with a litter size of 1 (Sánchez-Hernandez et al. 2016).They have been found roosting in small groups (6-20 individuals) under palm leaves or tree bark and in hollow trees (Goodwin and Greenhall 1961, Eisenberg 1989, Hayssen et al. 1993, Eger 2008, Sánchez-Hernandez et al. 2016).The species is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern (Solari et al. 2008).Here we report the second record of this species in Veracruz in over 120 years, and confirm its presence in the state while representing a northerly expansion of its known range.

Methods
In 1988 and 2010, 3 specimens of P. centralis were collected (2 were found dead on the ground and 1 was captured by hand), prepared as standard museum study skins and housed as voucher specimens in the Colección de Mamíferos del Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico (SEMARNAT VER-MAM-191-10-06), under the catalogue numbers IIB-UV 0521, IIB-UV 3956 and IIB-UV 3978.
Study site.Our specimens came from 2 localities in the state of Veracruz: Tlacotalpan and Xalapa (Fig. 1).

Discussion
Two biogeographic regions converge in the state of Veracruz (Arita and Paniagua 1993); the Nearctic region reaches its southernmost area of distribution and the Neotropical region its northernmost distribution area.The Nearctic region overlaps with the Neotropical region in the Mexican Transition Zone (Escalante et al. 2013).Consequently, Veracruz has a rich biota, representing one of the most diverse areas of Mexico and is also one of the most studied; however, at least for mammals, many gaps remain.
Bats of the genus Promops are poorly represented in museum collections (Flores et al. 2015), Promops centralis has historically been considered uncommon in Veracruz, probably due to this factor.It was known from just 2 specimens collected by Auguste Salle in 1857 in the same locality, San Ándres Tuxtla (18°26′ N, 095°12′ W) and deposited in the collections of the British Museum of Natural History Museum London, UK (Arroyo-Cabrales and Ramos Rivera 2017, Coates et al. 2017).González et al. (2002) erroneously reported P. centralis from the locality of "El Conejo" (19°31′ N, 097°08′ W, alt.3540 m), our reexamination of that specimen revealed that it is actually a Molossus rufus É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1805.
Our records from Xalapa are not only the second report for this species in over 160 years in Veracruz but also a northern extension of the known range by a linear distance of 216 km from the records in San Ándres Tuxtla, and 162 km northwest and 146 km northeast from a locality along the Zapotitlán River east of Zapotitlán de las Salinas, in Puebla (18°29′ N, 097°27′ W; Fig. 1), which are the closest known localities of the species.However, the records from Puebla and Veracruz are separated by the highlands of the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.These mountain systems have topographical features characterized by an altitudinal gradient from 0 to 6200 m and such conditions would be likely to preclude the displacement of the populations of P. centralis from Puebla to Veracruz, and therefore these 2 populations appear to be physically isolated from each other.
The new locality records and range extensions presented here contribute to filling the gaps in distribution of P. centralis in Veracruz, Mexico.While these records do not significantly increase the ranges of P. centralis, our results provide an insight into the extent of undersampling of molossids in Veracruz and highlight the urgent need for a more intensive inventory in other localities using other methods, such as acoustic detection.
Our data also confirm the potential distribution model of P. centralis proposed by Ceballos et al. (2006) for Veracruz. Recently, González-Terrazas et al. (2016) increased the distribution of P. centralis northward from Jalisco state to Bahía de Kino in Sonora state via the Pacific coast.Our records along with the one of González-Terrazas et al. ( 2016) should be included in any new analysis to reassess the potential distribution of P. centralis.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.New records (yellow circles) and historical reports (red triangle) of Promops centralis in the northeastern portion of its distribution.Note the presence of The Sierra Madre Oriental between the localities of Zapotitlan de Salinas in the state of Puebla and Xalapa and Tlacotalpan, in the state of Veracruz, Mexico.

Table 2 .
External and craniodental measurements (mm) of the new records of Promops centralis collected from the state of Veracruz, México.