Taxonomic Status of the Cuban Vampire Bat (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Desmodontinae: Desmodus)

—The Cuban subspecies of vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus puntajudensis Woloszyn and Mayo, is redescribed and raised to the specific rank. Desmodus puntajudensis shares some cranial characters with two extinct species of vampire bats from North America, D. stocki and D. archaeodaptes. Characters that distinguish the Cuban species are skull with globose braincase, palate wide with posterior apex widely grooved at midline, zygomatic arch short and higher anteriorly, orbital region deeply excavated, pterygoid process reduced, paraoccipital process reduced and ventrally placed, occipital protuberance greatly projected, occiput high and facing postero-ventrally, and foramen magnum larger antero-posteriorly. An additional, nearly complete skull of D. puntajudensis is recorded from a Quaternary cave deposit at Cueva de Paredones, La Habana, Cuba, which represents the westernmost fossil locality for its paleodistribution in the Cuban