Noteworthy records and distribution of Peruvian Long-tongued Bat , Platalina genovensium Thomas , 1928 ( Chiroptera , Phyllostomidae )

Platalina genovensium is one of the most endangered species of the subfamily Lonchophyllinae, currently known from a few localities on the western slopes of the Andes, and only 1 locality on the eastern side of the Peruvian Andes. Here, we report 9 new localities for this species, including 3 from the eastern slopes, which confirm the oriental distribution. Besides, a potential distribution model further suggests the wider presence of P. genovensium on the eastern slope of Peru, from the Marañón River to at least the Huánuco department; and on the western side, the model suggests the species probably occurs in Antofagasta, Chile, but it could also represent a false positive.


Introduction
The Peruvian Long-tongued Bat, Platalina genovensium Thomas, 1928, is one of the largest species of the Lonchophyllinae subfamily and the only nectarivorous bat occurring in dry ecosystems from low to high elevations, from near sea level to about 2,300 m a.s.l.(Sahley andBaraybar 1996, Griffiths andGardner 2008).This species is currently distributed from northern Peru to northern Chile (Velazco et al. 2013, Ossa et al. 2016).At first, several authors suggested that P. genovensium was restricted to the central and southern coast of the western Peruvian Andes (Thomas 1928, Tuttle 1970, Jones and Carter 1976), but later, it was reported from Huánuco on the eastern Andes (Sanborn 1936), the northern coast of Peru (Aellen 1965), and the northern coast of Chile (Galaz et al. 1999).Although the distribution of Platalina includes several localities on the Peruvian coast, these records come mainly from studies about their preferences for caves and feeding on flowers and fruits of columnar cacti (Sahley and Baraybar 1996, Griffiths and Gardner 2008, Velazco et al. 2013).Recently, Velazco et al. (2013) recorded P. genovensium from Piura (Peru) after 40 years and Ossa et al. (2016) from Chile after 17 years.However, P. genovensium has not been recorded from the eastern Andes since 1936 (Sanborn 1936), raising the possibility of local extinction.
Due to the few locality records, evidence of small populations, and the destruction of its habitats, P. genovensium was listed as Endangered by the Peruvian constitution (Decreto Supremo N° 004-2014-MINAGRI) and as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (Pacheco and Aguirre 2016).In the present study, we aim to update the distribution of P. genovensium, presenting new records based on recently collected specimens stored at the Museo de Historia Natural of Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (MUSM), to build a potential distribution map that could be used for conservation purposes, and to provide some natural history and conservation notes.

Methods
We examined specimens of Platalina genovensium stored at the Museo de Historia Natural of Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (MUSM).Uncatalogued specimens were identified by field collector codes: MNH for Maggie Noblecilla and DLR for Diana La Rosa.Specimens examined were preserved as dry skins or in alcohol, with the skull removed.
We identified our specimens using the key of Griffiths and Gardner (2008) and morphological descriptions of Thomas (1928) and Phillips (1971), as well as by direct comparisons with other specimens available at MUSM.We took a set of measurements following Mantilla-Meluk and Baker (2010) using a digital caliper.
Additionally, we created a potential distribution map using MaxEnt software (Phillips et al. 2006, Phillips andDudik 2008) for all localities available in the literature (Baraybar 2004, Velazco et al. 2013) and our new Identification.These specimens present diagnostic characters described by Thomas (1928), Phillips (1971), Griffiths and Gardner (2008), and shared by other specimens from MUSM collection (Appendix 1).We present a table of external and craniodental measurements (Table 1).The species is characterized by having 3 upper molars and 3 lower molars (Phillips 1971); however, several anomalies were found.One specimen (MUSM 44689) from Lomas de Granados had only 2 upper molars on each side.Another specimen from Amazonas (MUSM 38627, Fig. 2) had 2 upper molars on each side, 2 lower molars on the right side and 3 on the left side, but the third lower molar is unusually narrow (half the width of the lower molar) and very close to the adjacent molar.Both specimens are male and do not show any scar of dental alveoli that could suggest the third molar is missing.All males recorded in this study have robust mandibular rami, except one specimen from Amazonas (MUSM 44631, Fig. 2) that has an unusually narrow mandible,  while the single female recorded at Lomas de Granados (MUSM 44691) has a thin and delicate mandible.

Potential distribution.
We found an optimum level of acceptance.The sensitivity value obtained was 0.989, which indicates that 98.9% of the localities observed would be included in the prediction (Fig. 3).The AUC value obtained in the final modeling was 0.975 (97.5%).
The most important variables were: precipitation of coldest quarter (variable 19 of BioClim) with 27.1%, mean temperature of coldest quarter (variable 11 of BioClim) with 12.4%, and barren with 11.5%.

Discussion
We found that P. genovensium is widely distributed in dry ecosystems of the western and eastern slopes of the Andes from Piura, Peru (Velazco et al. 2013) to Azapa Valley, Chile (Ossa et al. 2016), from sea level to 2,602 m elevation in Yura, Arequipa Department (Peru) (MNH 95).This record is 300 m higher than the highest reported by Griffiths and Gardner (2008).
The results of the potential distribution map and our new records from Cajamarca and Amazonas suggest that P. genovensium has a continuous distribution from western slopes to eastern Amazonian basin crossing the Depression of Huancabamba, and on the eastern Andes from the Marañón dry valley to the relicts of dry forests from Huánuco (Fig. 3).Additionally, the potential distribution map suggests its presence in the other eastern dry forests located on Huancabamba and the Mantaro and Apurímac rivers.Earlier, Koopman (1978) suggested that P. genovensium could have used the low passes of the northern Peruvian Andes to colonize the Amazon basin and settle in Huánuco.
On the other hand, the high prediction of occurrence of P. genovensium on Antofagasta, Chile, could be interpreted as a false positive, because this region is isolated from the current distribution of P. genovensium by the Atacama Desert.However, we do not rule out the presence of P. genovensium in the Atacama Desert because some cacti species occurring in this region are used as food by P. genovensium in Peru (Table 2), such as Browningia candelaris (Meyen) Britton and Rose, Corryocactus brevistylus (K.Schumann ex Vaupel) Britton and Rose, and other species of columnar cacti of Echinopsis and Haageocereus (Señoret andAcosta 2013, Miesen et al. 2015).Additional sampling along the potential distribution localities is needed to confirm the presence of P. genovensium in the Atacama Desert up to Antofagasta and in the eastern dry forests of Peru to better understand its distributional patterns.
According to the records, the habitat of P. genovensium comprises arid regions with xerophytic vegetation, presence of columnar cacti, low rainfall (30 to 180 mm on average per year), and temperatures relatively low (9-12 °C as the minimum annual average, 12-15 °C as the maximum annual average) (ONERN 1976, Baraybar 2004).Its restricted distribution to dry regions could also be related to its feeding specialization on nectar, pollen and fruits of columnar cacti that have pollination syndrome by zoochory, such as entomophilia, ornithophilia and chiropterophilia (Barthlott and Hunt 1993, Sahley 1995, Zamora et al. 2013), which also are distributed in dry regions.Several authors have found that the cactus flowers of Armatocereus, Browningia, Echinopsis, Espostoa, Haageocereus, Neoraimondia, and Weberbauerocereus have the chiropterophilia syndrome and are effectively pollinated by P. genovensium (Barthlott and Hunt 1993, Sahley 1995, Sahley and Baraybar 1996, Baraybar 2004; Table 2).
Throughout their distribution, Platalina co-occurs with other nectarivorous bats as Lonchophylla hesperia, Anoura peruana Tschudi, 1844, and Glossophaga soricina valens Miller 1913; however, information about their ecological relationships is limited.In Lomas de Granados, we recorded P. genovensium sharing a cave with A. peruana, which forms conglomerates of approximately 15 individuals occupying a different zone from that occupied by P. genovensium.Also, P. genovensium shared a cave with Desmodus rotundus (E.Geoffroy St.-Hilaire 1810) in Huánuco (Sanborn 1936).The organization in the colonies is also little known, but Malo de Molina et al. (2011) suggested that in Lima, the pregnant females and males are separated in a roost; however, in the caves of Lomas de Granados and Lomas de Atiquipa, Platalina was not separated by sex (D.Ruelas pers.obs.).
Currently, the populations of P. genovensium along their distributional range are threatened by vandalism because some populations are set on fire or their roosts are damaged or closed (Aragón and Aguirre 2007).The species is also affected by changes in the use of land, changes in plant coverage, and the intrusion of alien plant and animal species (Sahley and Baraybar 1996, Aragón and Aguirre 2007, Zelada et al. 2014).At present, several records are in fact historical records because the species no longer exist in the area.For example, the locality of El Agustino in Lima city recorded by Ortiz de la Puente (1951) in 1948 (MUSM 149) is currently an extensive urban area.Also, some caves reported at El Agustino are currently closed or destroyed (V.Pacheco, pers. comm.).A similar case has occurred with recently recorded localities as the Lomas of Cerro Escalera in La Libertad Department (Zelada et al. 2014).For that reason, the presence of P. genovensium in Ate, an urban area in the periphery of Lima city, was unexpected.Nonetheless, a possible adaptation to urban places is premature because only 1 individual was observed.Further studies are needed to confirm how frequently P. genovensium uses urban areas.Other studies recently performed in the Lima city have recorded only 2 nectarivorous bats, Anoura peruana and Glossophaga soricina valens (Mena andWilliams de Castro 2002, Ruelas et al. 2016).

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Map of potential distribution of Platalina genovensium.The Alto Marañón basin is shown with points.Color scale represents adequacy values of the prediction.