# Confirming the presence of Lasiurusfrantzii (Peters, 1870) (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in South America: more questions than answers

## TL;DR

This paper confirms the presence of the western red bat in South America, raising new questions about its distribution and identification.

## Contribution

The paper provides the first confirmed record of Lasiurus frantzii in South America and at the highest elevation for the species.

## Key findings

- Lasiurus frantzii was confirmed in the Andean Region of Colombia at 3836 m a.s.l.
- The species may be widely distributed in trans-Andean areas of several South American countries.
- More morphological studies are needed to clarify the species' identification and distribution.

## Abstract

The western or desert red bat, Lasiurusfrantzii, is a cryptic insectivore species distributed in the Neotropics from Mexico south through Central America to Panama. L.frantzii was long considered a subspecies of the red bat, Lasiurusblossevillii, but recently it was elevated to full-species status based on genetic information. Here we present evidence of the presence of L.frantzii in the Andean Region of Colombia, confirming the species’ presence in South America; the new record, from 3836 m a.s.l., is also the highest elevation known for the species. We suggest that L.frantzii might be widely distributed in trans-Andean areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and perhaps Peru and Bolivia. However, a review and exploration of additional morphological traits to identify the species are necessary because of the uncertainty of the distribution of L.frantzii.