Historical account and current knowledge of the southernmost Chiropterofauna in the world: the Magellanic/Fuegian bats

Abstract

A depauperate Chiropterofauna consisting of essentially three bat species (the year-round residents Histiotus magellanicus and Myotis chiloensis, and the apparently migratory Lasiurus varius), exists in the challenging cold and windy environment of the Magellanic/Fuegian region, which encompasses territories in Argentina and Chile, both continental and insular. Knowledge of that bat fauna benefitted from earlier explorers and naturalists visiting such southerly and isolated geographical confines, but still lacks a comprehensive scientific study, particularly in face of expected green-energy projects using aerogenerators known to cause bat fatalities elsewhere. Currently, there is a paucity of information on the fine-scale geographic distribution, local abundance, and migration patterns of those bats that needs to be remedied as soon as possible. Our review may aid orienting and focusing such a research program, which should hopefully be binational, on account of the artificial nature of the border between Argentina and Chile in Tierra del Fuego.