The Atacama myotis (''Myotis atacamensis'') is a species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

in the family

Vespertilionidae Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

. It is found in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, specifically throughout the Atacama Desert in the Chilean matorral.C. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2013
Chilean matorral. ed. M.McGinley. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment
. Washington DC It is one of the smallest ''

Myotis The mouse-eared bats or myotises are a diverse and widespread genus (''Myotis'') of bats within the family Vespertilionidae. The noun "''myotis''" itself is a Neo-Latin construction, from the Greek "''muós'' (meaning "mouse") and "''oûs''" ( ...

'' species, with a height of around . The species was first discovered in the Atacama Desert, which is where its name comes from.

Taxonomy

The Atacama myotis is one of 22 recognized species of myotis in South America, and one of over 140 species worldwide. This species was first described in 1892 by French zoologist

Fernand Lataste Fernand Lataste (1847–1934) was a French zoologist and herpetologist born in Cadillac, Gironde. From 1880 to 1884, he collected reptiles and amphibians in North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco), publishing ''"Les missions scientifiques d ...

based on three samples collected in 1885 from San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile, located in the central part of the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

.Lataste, F. 1892. Etudes sur la faune chilienne. II—Note sur les chauvesouris. Actes de la Société Scientifique du Chile 1: 70–91. Several have classified the Atacama myotis as a subspecies of the Chilean myotis in 1943 and 1958.Osgood, W.H. 1943. The mammals of Chile. Field Museum of Natural History 30: 1–268 (doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.3842).Cabrera, Á. (1958). ‘‘1957’’. Catálogo de los mamıferos de América del Sur art 1 Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘‘Bernardino Rivadavia’’(Ciencias Zoológicas), 4, 1-307. Lataste originally classified the species as ''Vespertilio'' ''atacamensis'' and thought that it differed greatly from the Chilean myotis because it is much smaller, it has a different skull shape, and its teeth are different. In 1973, it was again listed as a species, which has been maintained at present.

Description

The Atacama myotis was originally thought to be a subspecies of the Chilean myotis, but these two species have distinct morphological differences. The Atacama myotis is smaller than the Chilean myotis, weighing only and having a forearm length of .Rodríguez-San Pedro, A., Allendes, J. L., Castillo, M. L., Peñaranda, D. A., & Peña-Gómez, F. T. (2014). Distribution extension and new record of Myotis atacamensis (Lataste, 1892)(Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Chile. Check List, 10(5), 1164-1166.Rodríguez-San Pedro, A., Peñaranda, D. A., Allendes, J. L., & Castillo, M. L. (2015). Update on the distribution of Myotis atacamensis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae): southernmost record and description of its echolocation calls. Chiroptera Neotropical, 21(2), 1342-1346. It is similar in size to the recently discovered '' Myotis diminutus'', but the two can be differentiated by their

uropatagia The patagium (: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flying. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, theropod dinosaurs (including b ...

. In the Atacama myotis, the dorsal side of the uropatagium is furred until halfway between the knee and ankle. In ''M. diminutus'', the dorsal side of the uropatagium is almost naked.Moratelli, R., & Wilson, D. E. (2011). A new species of Myotis Kaup, 1829 (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) from Ecuador. Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde, 76(5), 608-614. The dorsal fur color of the Atacama myotis is tricolored, with a black base leading to a lighter brown tip color. It also has a unique echolocation call, which has a much further range than other myotis species in Chile.LaVal, R. K. (1973). A revision of the Neotropical bats of the genus Myotis (No. 15). Natural History Museum, Los Angeles County.

Behavior & Ecology

The Atacama myotis is a colonial species, forming groups of around 30 individuals. They are

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

, beginning their foraging an hour before dusk and continuing for the first two hours of the night when prey availability is at its peak. They have also been observed roosting and hunting near streetlamps and structures within rural villages, providing evidence for them being a

synanthropic A synanthrope (from ancient Greek σύν ''sýn'' "together, with" and ἄνθρωπος ''ánthrōpos'' "man") is an organism that evolved to live near humans and benefit from human settlements and their environmental modifications (see also ...

species.Galaz, J.L., J. Yañez, A. Gantz and D.R. Martinez. 2009. Orden Chiroptera; pp. 67–89, in: A. Muñoz-Pedreros and J. Yañez (ed.). Mamiferos de Chile. Valdivia: CEA Ediciones The average lifespan of the Atacama myotis is 5-10 years, which

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

occurring after 1-2 years of development. Female bats undergo a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

period of around 3-4 months, which is relatively long compared to bat species elsewhere. Each birth usually contains only one baby, called a pup, which is born fully developed and reaches independence after 6-8 weeks. Due to the arid conditions of its habitat range, the Atacama myotis can enter a state of

torpor Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Torpor enables animals to survive periods of reduced food availability. The term "torpor" can refer to the ti ...

in order to conserve water. This adaptation is similar to

hibernation Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic reduction entered by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It is mos ...

, but it has a much shorter duration and is not linked to seasonality. When in a torpor state, the bat's metabolic rate is significantly decreased which allows it to conserve energy in times of scarce food or water. It is also the only

neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

''Myotis'' that has periods of this hibernation.

Distribution & habitat

The Atacama myotis has an extant range that stretches from southern Peru to the north and central parts of Chile, specifically within the

. Recent records also found evidence of this species in the

Choapa Province Choapa Province is one of the provinces making up the Coquimbo Region of Chile. It has an area of 10,079.8 km² and a population of 81,681. The capital of the province is the town of Illapel. Administration The current presidential provinc ...

La Campana National Park La Campana National Park is in the Cordillera de la Costa, Quillota Province, in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. La Campana National Park and the Vizcachas Mountains lie northwest of Santiago. This national park covers approximately and is ...

, increasing the known range. The landscape through this region includes deserts and semi-arid environments, with the only vegetation being thorny scrub and

sclerophyllous Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

forests. Their diurnal roosts are located within rock crevices and caves, or in roof edifications of barns or churches in rural communities.Iriarte, A. (2008). Mamíferos de Chile. Lynx Edicions. Barcelona, España, 220-221.Mann, G. 1978. Los pequeños mamíferos de Chile. Gayana 40: 1–342.

Conservation

As of 2016, the Atacama myotis is listed as an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

species according to the IUCN Red List. Previously, this species was listed as vulnerable after a survey in 1996 and then reclassified to

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

in 2008. Although they have a wide range of distribution, the bat's populations are severely fragmented and its overall area of occupancy (AOO) is less than . Additionally, over the next three generations (18 years) the population is expected to decline by more than 30% as well as a projected habitat quality degradation over the same time period. One major threat to their habitats are the increase in

wind farms A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

throughout the region. Chile is one of the leading countries throughout South America in their development of wind farms, which has become a major cause of bat deaths worldwide. Other threats include mining, urban development, and agricultural changes, all of which affect the bat's habitat and species composition.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9047568 Mouse-eared bats Bats of South America Mammals of Chile Mammals of Peru Fauna of the Chilean Matorral Mammals described in 1892 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot