The currently known distribution of the Austral Patagonian and Fuegian bats

Abstract

We report the currently existing 31 records for Austral Patagonian and Fuegian bats spanning from 1866 to 2022. The Vespertilionidae were: Myotis chiloensis, Histiotus magellanicus, and Lasiurus varius, and the Molossidae was Tadarida brasiliensis. The former two species were recorded at forested sites along a swath that runs NW-SE for about 670 km from Torres del Paine in continental Magallanes to Tierra del Fuego and Navarino islands. Those forests were Coihue-Canelo (Nothofagus betuloides-Drymis winteri), Coihue-Lenga (N. betuloides-N. pumilio), Lenga (N. pumilio-Maytenus disticha), or Ñirre shrubland (N. antarctica-Chiliotrichum difussum). Only one record for each of Lasiurus varius, Histiotus magellanicus, and Tadarida brasiliensis were located in steppe environments of Festuca gracillima-Chiliotrichum difussum but were centered at human habitations and surrounding orchards or plantations, and their presence therein may be deemed accidental.