We have compared our Nicaraguan material with a number of Mexican specimens, including the holotype of N. s. saturatus and topotypes of N. s. mexicanus. We concur with Goodwin (1959) that in México there are two rather distinct subspecies, between which a broad zone of intergradation obtains. Our Nicaraguan specimens agree most closely with N. s. saturatus, and, until additional comparative material is available from Middle America, we tentatively refer them to that race. Handley (1966b:770) and Starrett and Casebeer (1968:15), however, regarded mexicanus as the appropriate name for specimens from Panamá and Costa Rica.
Selected measurements of two males from El Recreo are: length of forearm, 41.2, 39.0 mm; greatest length of skull, 17.1, 16.5 mm; zygomatic breadth, 8.4, 8.5 mm; mastoid breadth, 7.7, 7.6 mm; breadth of braincase, 8.2, 8.1 mm; interorbital constriction, 3.2, 3.2 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 7.3, 7.1 mm.
Myotis albescens (E. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1806)
This handsome Myotis has been reported previously from Nicaragua only from the Caribbean lowlands—from the Escondido and Prinzapolka rivers (Miller and Allen, 1928:203). We netted two specimens, both males, at Santa Rosa, 17 km N and 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, Boaco, in central Nicaragua on 13 July and 9 August 1967, under the same conditions described in the account of Myotis elegans. Testes of our specimens were 7 and 6 mm, respectively, in length. External and cranial measurements are as follows: total length, 84, 83 mm; length of tail, 31, 33 mm; length of hind foot, 9, 9 mm; length of ear, 15, 15 mm; length of forearm, 32.9, 35.1 mm; weight, 6.4, 6.2 gms; greatest length of skull, 13.9, 14.4 mm; zygomatic breadth, 8.9, 9.0 mm; postorbital breadth, 3.8, 3.9 mm; breadth of braincase, 7.2, 7.3 mm; mastoid breadth, 7.4, 7.6 mm; breadth across upper molars, 5.6, 5.5 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 5.3, 5.3 mm.
Myotis elegans Hall, 1962
The first specimen on record of this rare Myotis from Central America, a nonpregnant female, was taken on 11 July 1967 at Santa Rosa, 17 km N and 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, Boaco. It was captured in a mist net as it foraged over a small stream that supported relatively well-developed gallery forest along the bank. The surrounding area was grassland (grazed), with small patches of tropical forest located on the sides of hills. Twenty other species of bats were taken at this same locality including Myotis argentatus and Myotis nigricans nigricans.
External and cranial measurements of our specimen, followed in parentheses by those of the female holotype from Veracruz, are: total length, 71 (79) mm; length of tail, 32 (34) mm; length of hind foot, 7 (7.5) mm; length of ear, 11 (12) mm; length of forearm, 32.9 (33.0) mm; greatest length of skull, 12.5 (12.4) mm; condylobasal length, 11.6 (11.9) mm; zygomatic breadth, 8.2 mm; breadth of braincase, 5.8 (6.1) mm; postorbital breadth, 3.2 (3.2) mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 4.7 (4.6) mm. Our female weighed 3.2 gms.
Myotis nigricans nigricans (Schinz, 1821)
Specimens.—Boaco: Santa Rosa, 17 km N, 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, 2. Chinandega: 6.5 km N, 1 km E Cosigüina, 10 m, 1; San Antonio, 35 m, 1. Chontales: 1 km N, 2.5 km W Villa Somoza, 330 m, 1. Madriz: Darailí, 5 km N, 14 km E Condega, 940 m, 1. Nueva Segovia: 4.5 km N, 2 km E Jalapa, 680 m, 1. Rivas: 1 km NW Sapoá, 40 m, 1.
This small Neotropical Myotis has been reported from Nicaragua only from the Caribbean lowlands of Zelaya (Davis et al., 1964:379). Our records indicate that it is widely distributed in the republic but evidently nowhere common. Females taken on 5 March and 6 August each carried a single embryo (7 and 13 mm in crown-rump length, respectively), whereas one obtained on 21 July evidenced no reproductive activity. Richard K. LaVal currently is studying the Myotis nigricans complex; pending his revision our specimens are tentatively assigned to M. n. nigricans.