First record of Molossus pretiosus Miller, 1902 (Chiroptera, Molossidae) for the Cerrado of Bahia, northeastern Brazil

Molossus pretiosus Miller, 1902 is known from two localities in Brazil: one in the Caatinga of Minas Gerais, and other in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso do Sul. We report here the first record of M. pretiosus for the Cerrado of Bahia, Northeastern Brazil. This record extends the distribution of this species by about 200 km northward.


Introduction
The Chiroptera is one of the most diverse mammal orders, representing about 20% of all mammals in the world, comprising 20 families and more than 1300 species (Fenton and Simmons 2014).In Brazil, the order comprises 9 families, 68 genera and 178 species, making Brazil the second-highest rate of species richness of bats in the world (Nogueira et al. 2014).With the development of new sampling methods, systematic reviews and description of new species, the wealth of bats known in Brazil is constantly increasing (Tavares et al. 2008, Paglia et al. 2012, Nogueira et al. 2014).Nevertheless, the available information on the occurrence and distribution of bat species in the country are heterogeneous and fragmented, without any record of species in about 60% of the Bra-zilian territory, and only 8% of the territory minimally surveyed for bats (Bernard et al. 2011b).Although there are records of bats in 41% of the Cerrado biome, the western region of Bahia state is poorly surveyed (Lapenta and Bueno 2015).
The genus Molossus is widely distributed through the Americas, extending from Mexico to Argentina and Uruguay (Eger 2008).Members of the genus can be identified in the field by the presence of one pair of inferior incisors and non-caniniform upper incisors (Barquez et al. 1999).Additional diagnostic characters of the genus are the smooth lips, short and rounded ears arising from the same point, an antitragus constricted at the basis, and the absence of a prominent medial ridge at the snout (Eger 2008).In Brazil, the genus comprises 6 species (Nogueira et al. 2014): Molossus aztecus Saussure, 1860; Molossus coibensis Allen, 1904;Molossus currentium Thomas, 1901;Molossus molossus (Pallas, 1766); Molossus pretiosus Miller, 1902 andMolossus rufus É. Geoffroy, 1805. Miller's Mastiff Bat, M. pretiosus, is a medium-sized species described as a "nonforest dweller that occupies open areas such as grassland savannas, dry woodlands, and cactus and thorn scrub" (Jennings et al. 2000: 2).The type locality of the species is the city of La Guaira, Distrito Federal, Venezuela, and the species occurs from Mexico and Nicaragua southward to Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil (Dolan 1989, Jennings et al. 2000, Simmons 2005, Peracchi et al. 2011).In Brazil there are confirmed records in Aquidauna, state of Mato Grosso do Sul (Gregorin and Taddei 2000) and Jaíba, state of Minas Gerais (Nogueira et al. 2008).This study presents the first record of M. pretiosus for the state of Bahia, northeastern Brazil.

Methods
The specimen representing the first record of Molossus pretiosus for the state of Bahia was captured during fieldwork in the municipality of São Félix do Coribe, within the Cerrado biome.The climate on the sampling site is dry, with less than 60 mm of precipitation in winter, and is characterized as Aw (Kottek et al. 2006).The specimen was captured in a set of 7 ground level mist-nets and 1 elevated mist-net (4 m high) on a dirt road that separate an agriculture area from a savanna fragment.The nets remained opened for 6 h after sunset.
One neither pregnant (by palpation) nor lactating adult female of Molossus pretiosus was captured in the elevated mist-net.Many bats were seen foraging above the net at approximately 10 m height, and the single capture occurred 10 min.after sunset at 18.00h, when the individual of M. pretiosus dived on flight to capture an insect and could not avoid the net.Identification.The specimen presented general reddish coloration, face and membranes dark although not entirely black; fur on uropatagium reaching the proximal third; and dense ventral pelage on the wings at the region close to the body and forearm ( Fig. 1).Dorsal furis darker than ventral, short (3.5 mm) and weakly bicolor with a reddish brown basal band (ca.60% of fur length) and tips slightly darker.Ventral fur is also bicolored, short (3 mm), with a light brown basal band and reddish-brown tips, sprinkled with whitish hairs (Fig. 1).Dense fur on the base of the ears reaches 1/3 of its breadth, and the antitragus is oval with a constriction on the basis.There are long hairs on the feet (5 mm) and a few hairs longer than the fur over the dorsal posterior region of the body (16 mm).Skull is short and broad, with a well-developed sagittal crest and bulge braincase.The upper incisors are long and with separate tips; and the M3 has a V-shaped cusp pattern (Fig. 2).External and skull measurements are in Table 1.
The specimens was identified as M. pretiosus using data already reported for this species and by comparing data in the literature for similar species.According to Lim and Engstrom (2001)  and slightly convergent upper incisors, with tips in contact or not; whereas M. rufus has short and spatulated upper incisors, with convergent tips (Fig. 2).The face and membranes are black in M. rufus and blackish, slightly paler, in M. pretiosus (Gregorin and Taddei 2000, Jennings et al. 2000, Gregorin and Taddei 2002, Nogueira et al. 2008, López-Baucells et al. 2016).
CMARF 0992 is a large specimen, with forearm length (46.4 mm) slightly overlapping with the range reported for M. rufus, but still inside the range of M. pretiosus.The forearm length of CMARF 0992 is similar with the values documented by Nogueira et al. (2008) for the material from Jaíba, Minas Gerais.Skull measurements are all similar with the values found for females from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul.Moreover, all the skull measurements are out of the range reported for M. rufus (Jennings et al. 2000, Nogueira et al. 2008).The long upper incisors, with separated tips (Fig. 2), are present in the specimen, and were used to distinguish M. pretiosus from M. rufus (Gregorin and Taddei 2002).However, the importance of this character for species diagnosis was recently contested by Nogueira et al. (2008), who found some differences in the shape of the upper incisors related to specimen sizes (smaller specimens presented short convergent incisors and larger specimens presented long incisors with separated tips).Another relevant character cited by many authors is the color of the face and membranes, which is dark but not black in M. pretiosus (as observed in CMARF 0992) and entirely black in M. rufus (Lim and Engstrom 2001, Nogueira et al. 2008, López-Baucells et al. 2016).

Discussion
CMARF 0992 constitutes the third record of the species in Brazil, and the first for Bahia state and the Cerrado biome.The others include 1 record in the Pantanal biome (Mato Grosso do Sul; Gregorin and Taddei 2000), and one in the Caatinga biome (Minas Gerais; Nogueira et al. 2008).The new record extends the known distribution range by about 200 km towards the north (Fig. 3).In 2014, a possible specimen of M. pretiosus was captured in the same area of study (voucher CMUFLA 900;Guimarães and Ferreira 2014), but due to its difficult identification, the specimen was classified as "Molossus cf.pretiosus", and the presence of this species in the state was not considered.We captured a possible specimen of M. pretiosus in 2014 during fieldwork in the municipality of União de Minas, state of Minas Gerais, which suggested to us the possible presence of this species in the area.However, the individual was released, and there is no voucher material to verify the identity.
The specimen analyzed in this study was captured in an open and dry habitat, condition similar to the data reported on other locations (see Jennings et al. 2000, Lim and Engstrom 2001, Nogueira et al. 2008).According to Dolan (1989), M. pretiosus present the most restricted and disjunctive geographical distribution of all congeners.However, the lack on distribution data of M. pretiosus in Brazil could be related to a sampling gap instead of the occurrence of any potential geographical barrier (Nogueira et al. 2008).The species is classified as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Pineda and Medina 2008).The study site is classified by Bernard et al. (2011a) as a region deficient in bat inventories and this study reinforces the importance of bat samplings in such areas.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Marginal localities of Molossus pretiosus in South America.Black Circles: Previous records for the species; Black Star: Present record from the state of Bahia.Additional information is available in Table2.