ABSTRACT
— The Recent and late Quaternary chiropteran fauna of the West Indies is composed of 57 species, including 27 species that are either extinct or have undergone local extinction (i.e., extirpation). Cuba has the largest bat fauna of the West Indian islands — 33 species, including 26 living species, four extinct species (Mormoops magna, Pteronotus pristinus, Phyllops vetus, and Artibeus anthonyi), and three extirpated species, two of which, M. megalophylla and the vampire Desmodus rotundus, are now restricted to the mainland Neotropics. Jamaica has 24 species of bats — 21 extant species and three extirpated species, two of which, M. megalophylla and Tonatia sauophila, are no longer found in the West Indies. Hispaniola has 21 species of bats — 18 living species and three species extinct on the island, including a large extinct Pteronotus and two locally extinct species, Lasiurus intermedius and M. megalophylla. Puerto Rico has 16 species of bats — 13 living species, one extinct species Phyllonycteris major, and two locally extinct species, the Lesser Antillean Monophyllus plethodon and Macrotus waterhousii. In the Bahamas Archipelago, fossil bat faunas are known from Abaco, Andros, Exuma, New Providence, and Grand Caicos. Abaco on the Little Bahama Bank has 13 species of bats, including eight species known only from fossil deposits and now locally extinct. New Providence on the Great Bahama Bank has 14 species, including 10 species now extinct on the island. In the Cayman Islands, 4 of the 12 species of bats recorded from Grand Cayman are locally extinct, whereas two of the eight bats from Cayman Brac are no longer found on the island. Three islands in the northern Lesser Antilles have fossil bat faunas, including Anguilla, Antigua, and Barbuda. The Lesser Antillean fossil bats include one extinct species, P. major and three locally extinct species, Mormoops blainvillii, Pteronotus parnellii, and Macrotus waterhousii. The three locally extinct species are now restricted to the Great Antillean region, indicating that these three bats had a wider distribution in the West Indies during the late Quaternary. Pteronotus major is otherwise known only from Puerto Rico.
The extinctions of Antillean bats are most prevalent among specialized or obligate cave-dwelling species in the families Mormoopidae and Natalidae, and the phyllostomid subfamilies Brachyphyllinae, Phyllonycterinae, and Glossophaginae. Among the 27 species of West Indian bats that underwent late Quaternary extinctions, 17 species (63%) belong to these five groups of cave-dwelling bats that roost in the hot, humid microenvironment deep within large cave systems. Moreover, among the 69 chiropteran extinction events in the West Indies, 52 extinction events (75%) involved obligate cave-dwelling bats. All eight Antillean species in the mormoopid genera Mormoops and Pteronotus suffered extinctions. Mormoops magna, P. pristinus, and a large Pteronotus are extinct; M. megalophylla no longer occurs in the West Indies; and the remaining four species have undergone numerous local extinctions, particularly on small islands. Mormoops blainvillii went extinct on seven islands — Gonâve, and three islands each in the Bahamas and northern Lesser Antilles. Pteronotus parnellii disappeared from six islands — Isla de Pinos, Gonâve, Abaco, and New Providence in the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, and Antigua. Four of the five species of West Indian natalids suffered local extinctions. The most numerous extinctions occurred in Natalus major, which disappeared from seven islands — Cuba, Isla de Pinos, four islands in the Bahamas, and Grand Cayman. Among specialized cave-dwelling phyllostomids — Phyllonycteris major is extinct; P. poeyi is extirpated on two islands in the Bahamas and Cayman Brac; Brachyphylla nana went extinct on Jamaica, two islands in the Bahamas, and Cayman Brac; and Monophyllus redmani disappeared from five islands, including Gonâve, three islands in the Bahamas, and Grand Cayman. The extinctions/extirpations of 17 species of specialized cave-dwelling bats in the West Indies are almost certainly related to changes in the size, distribution, and ecology of caves. The disappearance of large cave systems, through flooding from rising sea levels or erosional collapse, apparently led to widespread extinctions of bats on small islands, such as the Bahamas and Caymans. Changes in cave microclimates related to overall climatic change presumably led to the extinction of certain cavernicolous bats on the large islands of the Greater Antilles.
The extinctions of ten other species of bats that are either facultative cave dwellers or roost in trees are more difficult to explain. Among the facultative cave dwellers, two gleaning insectivores, Tonatia saurophila and Macrotus waterhousii, suffered local extinctions in the West Indies. Tonatia saurophila disappeared from Jamaica and now survives only on the Neotropical mainland, whereas M. waterhousii went extinct in Puerto Rico and several islands in the northern Lesser Antilles. The vampire D. rotundus occurs in the West Indies only in fossil deposits on Cuba, and its disappearance from that island probably resulted from the extinction of its primary “prey,” small ground 370sloths of the family Megalonychidae. The biogeographical distribution of West Indian bats has been strongly influenced by extinctions. The two most significant patterns are the widespread extinctions of cave-dwelling species on small islands, particularly in the Bahamas, Caymans, and northern Lesser Antilles, and the blurring of the boundary between the Great Antillean and Lesser Antillean faunal regions resulting from the late Quaternary extinction of at least four Greater Antillean species in the northern Lesser Antilles.
