187.

Ulapes Serotine

Eptesicus ulapesensis

French: Sérotine d'Ulapes / German: Ulapes-Breitflligelfledermaus / Spanish: Eptesicus de Ulapes

Taxonomy. Eptesicus ulapesensis R. T. Sanchez ad of, 2019,

Ulapes, 1 kn: 'W of the central plaza, San Martin Department, La Riga Province, Argentina: (31°34'35"S, 66°14'55"W, 495m.”

Eptesicus ulapesensis 1s known only from nine individuals; its recent description was based on morphological, morphometric, and molecular evidence. Monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from NW Argentina (La Rioja and Mendoza provinces).

Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢.57-66 mm, tail 36-49 mm, ear 13-19 mm, hindfoot 7-10 mm, forearm 41-45-8 mm; weight 9-14 g. Females are larger than males. Dorsal fur of the Ulapes Serotineis short (c. 6 mm), silky, and bicolored, with dark brown bases and golden-brown to yellowish tips; ventral hairs have blackish bases and whitish tips. Inguinal region is white. Membranes are pale brown and naked. Ears are medium brown, small, and triangular, with short hairs on anterior internal margins; tragus is elongated, wide with blunt tip, and reaches about one-third the ear length. Upper and lowerlips are bordered with long white hairs; lower lip has triangular pad. Braincase is wider than rostrum and domed; postorbital constriction is well-marked, with posterior onethird projecting upward; rostrum is wide, slightly sloping upward to braincase; sagittal crest is well developed posteriorly, forming triangular bone plane on connection with lambdoidal crests; nasal opening is V-shaped; zygomatic arches have very low rounded postorbital process on medial part ofjugal; and basisphenoid pits are absent. Upper inner incisors are separated, bilobed, and spatulated; I’ is reduced, conical, and separated from C' by small gap; P* is well developed, reaching one-third of C' height; M' and M? are almost square, with W-pattern; M? is reduced and triangular; lower incisors are trilobed and in contact,filling space between canines; P, is small, reaching one-third of P, height; and lower molars have well-developed cusps, decreasing in size from M, to M..

Habitat. Argentinean Dry Chaco, Monte, and Steppes ecoregions in brushy and thorn vegetation with cactus ( Cactaceae) and shrubs, forests of quebracho colorado trees ( Schinopsis marginata, Anacardiaceae), and grasslands at known elevations of 493-635 m. Ulapes Serotines are mainly associated with arid and dry habitats near water; some were caught at the edge of a man-made dike.

Food and Feeding. The Ulapes Serotine is insectivorous. Scarce information available suggests that it forages over and near water.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Ecoregions in the distribution of the Ulapes Serotine are under severe human disturbances; main threats are deforestation and livestock that are causing serious damage to natural vegetation, which is being reduced to small fragments.

Bibliography. Sanchez et al. (2019).