First fossil record of a bat (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) from Uruguay (Plio-Pleistocene, South America): a giant desmodontine

ABSTRACT

The family Phyllostomidae is a monophyletic clade of Neotropical bats with diverse feeding strategies including sanguivory (subfamily Desmodontinae). The fossil record in open sites of South America (SA) is scarce and patchy. Molecular estimations suggest origination of vampire desmodontines in late Paleogene of SA, but are only recorded in the latest Pleistocene and Holocene. Here we describe the first fossil record of bats for Uruguay from an open site (Raigón Formation, Plio/Pleistocene) based on a complete humerus, accompanied by a comparative analysis, and paleoclimate and paleobiogeographic considerations. Quantitative comparisons show that it belongs to a population of large bats similar to the extinct giant Desmodus draculae. It is not younger than middle Pleistocene suggesting the absence of this clade in the Tertiary of SA is a taphonomic bias. It is the oldest record of a vampire desmodontine (Desmodus) from SA, suggesting a previous history and provides empirical evidence of migration from SA to NA of Neotropical vampires linked to the Great American Biotic Interchange. Tropical to subtropical climates are suggested at these latitudes of SA during the deposition of the bearing beds. Potential prey are medium-large mammals (ground-sloths, notoungulates, litopterns, and large rodents, among others) and large terrestrial birds (terror-birds).

KEYWORDS:

• Desmodus draculae
• Uruguay
• Raigón Formation
• Plio-Pleistocene
• Phyllostomidae
• Desmodontinae

Acknowledgments

To Jorge da Silva who found the material from Uruguay and donated it to the Paleontological Collection of the FC; to the curator A. Rojas (FC) for facilitating the study of the fossil material; to the curators R. Barquez (CML), F. Montenegro, M. Meneghel and E. Elgue (ZVC-M) for accessing comparative extant vampires; O. Linares and H. Carvajal provided us of comparative information of the holotype of D. draculae; N. Czaplewski help us with comparative information of D. archaeodaptes and G. Morgan useful information of bats. An anonymous reviewer, N. Czaplewski, R. Barquez and Editor G. Dyke help us to improve the ms with useful comments. Contribution to CSIC C-229-348 (DP) and FCE-2009-2398 (MU).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación [FCE-2009-2398];Comisión Sectorial de Investigación Científica [C-229-348].