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![-Dorsal and ventral fur of specimens of Myotis keaysi from Peruvian Andes (AMNH 15814, holotype [A, B]), Myotis keaysi from Argentina (CML 10985 [C, D]) and Myotis sp. nov. from western lowlands of Ecuador (TTU 102438 [E, F]).](profile/Roberto-Leonan-Novaes/publication/357909273/figure/fig2/AS:1113594724921352@1642513080862/Dorsal-and-ventral-fur-of-specimens-of-Myotis-keaysi-from-Peruvian-Andes-AMNH-15814.png)
-Dorsal and ventral fur of specimens of Myotis keaysi from Peruvian Andes (AMNH 15814, holotype [A, B]), Myotis keaysi from Argentina (CML 10985 [C, D]) and Myotis sp. nov. from western lowlands of Ecuador (TTU 102438 [E, F]).
Source publication
The genus Myotis comprises a diverse group of vespertilionid bats with worldwide distribution. Twenty-eight Neotropical species are currently recognized. In this study, we evaluate molecular and morphological variation in the M. keaysi complex, a high elevation clade of Neotropical myotine bats characterized by complex taxonomy and high morphologic...
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... from western Ecuador had a comparatively shorter fur over the legs and uropatagium, not reaching the knees. Specimens from central Andes have a long and woolly fur (LDF 8-9, LVF 6-7 mm), with the majority of the specimens having a dull reddish-brown dorsal fur color (from Cinnamon Brown to Ochraceous Tawny) with the base being remarkably darker (Fig. 5). Specimens from Venezuela have a slightly shorter woolly fur (LDF 7-7.5, LVF 5.5-6 mm) and a general reddish-brown fur color, like the pattern found in the Andean samples. Specimens from Argentina also have a shorter woolly fur (LDF 6.5-8; LVF 5-6), generally Mummy Brown in color, with a blackish base. The color pattern of the ventral ...
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... reddish-brown fur color, like the pattern found in the Andean samples. Specimens from Argentina also have a shorter woolly fur (LDF 6.5-8; LVF 5-6), generally Mummy Brown in color, with a blackish base. The color pattern of the ventral fur was virtually the same in all OTUs, with Clove Brown bases and tips ranging from Ivory Yellow to Light Drab (Fig. 5). In contrast, specimens from western Ecuador have a conspicuously distinct color pattern, with short woolly fur (LDF 5.0-7.5, LVF 4.0-5.5). Dorsal fur is unicolored and yellowish, ranging from Buckthorn Brown to Aniline Yellow. Ventral fur is bicolored, with Dresden Brown bases and Maize Yellow tips (Fig. ...
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... from Ivory Yellow to Light Drab (Fig. 5). In contrast, specimens from western Ecuador have a conspicuously distinct color pattern, with short woolly fur (LDF 5.0-7.5, LVF 4.0-5.5). Dorsal fur is unicolored and yellowish, ranging from Buckthorn Brown to Aniline Yellow. Ventral fur is bicolored, with Dresden Brown bases and Maize Yellow tips (Fig. ...
Citations
... Although no investigations have been carried out on the susceptibility of neotropical Myotis to climate change, it is not merely speculative to think that species associated with mountainous areas and high altitudes, especially endemic ones, could be at risk. Species newly described from recently revealed cryptic complexes may also be under threat, as in M. moratellii -endemic to the same lowland area where M. diminutus occurs in Ecuador (Novaes et al. 2021b); in Myotis pampathe only bat endemic to the subtropical grassland plains of the South American Pampa, with a very restricted occurrence area and strong anthropogenic pressure (Novaes et al. 2021c); and in M. arescens-a bat endemic to Chile and recently raised to species level, which occupies a narrow and highly impacted area of desertic shrubland and sclerophyllous forest (Novaes et al. 2021b). These species were only revealed from integrative taxonomic reviews that evaluated many morphological, genetic, and bioacoustic characters. ...
... Although no investigations have been carried out on the susceptibility of neotropical Myotis to climate change, it is not merely speculative to think that species associated with mountainous areas and high altitudes, especially endemic ones, could be at risk. Species newly described from recently revealed cryptic complexes may also be under threat, as in M. moratellii -endemic to the same lowland area where M. diminutus occurs in Ecuador (Novaes et al. 2021b); in Myotis pampathe only bat endemic to the subtropical grassland plains of the South American Pampa, with a very restricted occurrence area and strong anthropogenic pressure (Novaes et al. 2021c); and in M. arescens-a bat endemic to Chile and recently raised to species level, which occupies a narrow and highly impacted area of desertic shrubland and sclerophyllous forest (Novaes et al. 2021b). These species were only revealed from integrative taxonomic reviews that evaluated many morphological, genetic, and bioacoustic characters. ...
... The message we want to highlight here is that studies that act on the frontiers of cryptic diversity have often revealed new species and indicated small distribution areas for several species, many of which come from environments already quite disturbed (e. g., Wilson 2011, 2014;Novaes et al. 2021b). The case of neotropical Myotis is an emblematic and valuable example of this issue. ...
It is estimated that less than 25% of the eukaryotic species on Earth have been formally described. On the other hand, we are going through a biodiversity crisis that has caused mass species extinctions, many of which have not yet been discovered by science. This puts taxonomy at the forefront of the biological sciences. Based on a case study on neotropical Myotis, a hyper-diverse and cryptic bat genus, we argue that (integrative) taxonomy plays a leading role in generating knowledge that can aid the assessment of the extinction risk of species and, consequently, guide conservation strategies. Moreover, the identification of complexes of cryptic taxa employs integrative taxonomic methods that are often based on genetic and morphological evidence, generating basic information on the demographic history, occupation of habitats, and distributional limits of taxa that are generally rare or endemic.
... Myotis Kaup, 1829 is the most specious bat genus with more than 135 species distributed in different habitats around the World (Burgin et al. 2018;Simmons and Cirranello 2022). Currently, 25 species have been documented in South America (Novaes et al. 2021a(Novaes et al. ,b, 2022a and phenotypically divided into two species groups: ruber and albescens (Moratelli et al. 2013(Moratelli et al. , 2019Ruedi et al. 2013). ...
Myotis bakeri is a Peruvian endemic bat with little information about its natural history and geographic distribution. Based on a revision of museum specimens, we report new records of M. bakeri extending its distribution range 143 km northwest and 98 km southeast. Also, the elevational range is extended to 1445 m. The current allo-patric distribution of M. bakeri and M. atacamensis, and other bat species, suggests the existence of two unreported bat assemblages in the Peruvian western slope.
... Approximately 659 amphibian species (Ron et al., 2021), 500 reptile species (Torres-Carvajal et al., 2022), 1699 bird species (Freile & Poveda, 2019), and 466 mammal species (Brito et al., 2021) have been described in Ecuador. Likely, these numbers are highly underestimated as new species are still regularly identified (e.g., Brito et al., 2022;Guayasamin et al., 2022;Leonan et al., 2022) and cryptic species are probably common (Funk et al., 2012). Ecuador is also a highly anthropized country transected by more than 16,647 km of primary and secondary roads (Meijer et al., 2018). ...
Abstract Ecuador has both high richness and high endemism, which are increasingly threatened by anthropic pressures, including roads. Research evaluating the effects of roads remains scarce, making it difficult to develop mitigation plans. Here, we present the first national assessment of wildlife mortality on roads that allow us to (1) estimate roadkill rates per species, (2) identify affected species and areas, and (3) reveal knowledge gaps. We bring together data from systematic surveys and citizen science efforts to present a dataset with 5010 wildlife roadkill records from 392 species, and we also provide 333 standardized corrected roadkill rates calculated on 242 species. Systematic surveys were reported by ten studies from five Ecuadorian provinces, revealing 242 species with corrected roadkill rates ranging from 0.03 to 171.72 ind./km/year. The highest rates were for the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia in Galapagos (171.72 ind./km/year), the cane toad Rhinella marina in Manabi (110.70 ind./km/year), and the Galapagos lava lizard Microlophus albemarlensis (47.17 ind./km/year). Citizen science and other nonsystematic monitoring provided 1705 roadkill records representing all 24 provinces in Ecuador and 262 identified species. The common opossum Didelphis marsupialis, the Andean white‐eared opossum Didelphis pernigra, and the yellow warbler Setophaga petechia were more commonly reported (250, 104, and 81 individuals, respectively). Across all sources, we found 15 species listed as “Threatened” and six as “Data Deficient” by the IUCN. We recommend stronger research efforts in areas where the mortality of endemic or threatened species could be critical for populations, such as in Galapagos. This first country‐wide assessment of wildlife mortality on Ecuadorian roads represents contributions from academia, members of the public, and government, underlining the value of wider engagement and collaboration. We hope these findings and the compiled dataset will guide sensible driving and sustainable planning of infrastructure in Ecuador and, ultimately, contribute to reduce wildlife mortality on roads.
... The wide distribution range could contribute to the genetic population structure (Burland and Wilmer, 2001), as an array of factors can affect the extent of genetic partitioning among populations, including dispersal ability and geographic barriers (Burland and Wilmer, 2001). In fact, phylogeographic and population studies of bats in the Neotropical region reveal several cases of genetic structure and cryptic diversity, such as in the genera Chiroderma, Myotis, and Pteronotus (e.g., Martins et al., 2007;Marroig, 2016, 2017;Moras et al., 2018;Garbino et al., 2020;Novaes et al., 2021). The genetic structure of bat populations in Brazil is poorly understood, but some available data indicate a strong population structure between the populations analyzed (e.g., Carstens et al., 2004;Marroig, 2016, 2017;Moras et al., 2018;Garbino et al., 2020). ...
Bat caves in the Neotropical region harbor exceptional bat populations (> 100,000 individuals). These populations play a wider role in ecological interactions, are vulnerable due to their restriction to caves, and have a disproportionate conservation value. Current knowledge of bat caves in Brazil is still small. However, systematic monitoring of some bat caves in northeastern Brazil shows that they experience strong population fluctuations over short periods of time, suggesting large-scale movements between roosts and a much broader use of the landscape than previously considered. Spatio-temporal reproductive connectivity between distant populations would change our understanding of the use of roosts among bat species in Brazil, and important gaps in knowledge of long-distance bat movements in the country would be filled. Here, we used ddRADseq data to analyze the genetic structure of Pteronotus gymnonotus across nine bat caves over 700 km. Our results indicate the lack of a clear geographic structure with gene flow among all the caves analyzed, suggesting that P. gymnonotus uses a network of bat caves geographically segregated hundreds of kilometers apart. Facing strong anthropogenic impacts and an underrepresentation of caves in conservation action plans worldwide, the genetic connectivity demonstrated here confirms that bat caves are priority sites for bat and speleological conservation in Brazil and elsewhere. Moreover, our results demonstrate a warning call: the applied aspects of the environmental licensing process of the mining sector and its impact must be reviewed, not only in Brazil, but wherever this licensing process affects caves having exceptional bat populations.
... Since its description, Myotis nigricans has been treated as a widely distributed species, and several subspecies have been recognized by different authors. However, recent studies have merged evidence indicating that M. nigricans is composite, as currently recognized, representing a complex of allopatric species (Moratelli and Wilson 2011a;Moratelli et al. , 2016Moratelli et al. , 2017Moratelli et al. , 2019bNovaes et al. 2021b). The name nigricans seems to apply to Atlantic Forest populations from southeastern Brazil and southern South America, considering the type locality (Moratelli and Wilson 2011a;Moratelli et al. 2013Moratelli et al. , 2017. ...
Myotis comprises a diverse group of vespertilionid bats with worldwide distribution. Neotropical Myotis have an accentuated phenotypic conservatism, which makes species delimitation and identification difficult , hindering our understanding of the diversity, distribution, and phylogenetic relationships of taxa. To encourage new systematic reviews of the genus, a catalogue of the primary types and names is presented, current and in synonymy, for Neotropical Myotis. Currently 33 valid species (and three subspecies) are recognized, and their primary types are deposited in 12 scientific collections in the USA (30 types), Brazil (two types), England (two types), and France (one type). The names of 29 Neotropical Myotis species currently in synonymy were found. However, it is possible that some synonyms represent independent evolutionary lineages, considering recent results provided by taxonomic revisions.
... The South American Myotis is a taxonomic puzzle due to morphological similarity among species phylogenetically close. Consequently, there are cryptic species of Myotis and recent systematic reviews have demonstrated the existence of independent evolutionary lineages being treated as a unique species (Larsen et al. 2012, Carrión-Bonilla and Cook 2020, Novaes et al. 2021a, 2021b, 2021c. Myotis atacamensis is at the center of this debate, where populations from northern and central western Peru misidentified as M. atacamensis were recently described as a new species (Moratelli et al. 2019b). ...
Myotis atacamensis (Lataste, 1892) was described based on three syntypes from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The type series is lost. The original description was based on few external and cranial characters, and the diagnosis became obsolete and useless considering the current diversity of South American Myotis. Based on 12 specimens of M. atacamensis from southern Peru and northern Chile, we provide a morphological comparison with its South American congeners, designate a neotype, and provide a new diagnosis.
KEY WORDS:
Atacama Myotis; desert habitat; Myotinae; neotype; taxonomy
With up to 137 species worldwide, Myotis,— a genus of small, insectivorous bats are an example for understanding biogeographic and evolutionary processes such as intercontinental colonization, diversification, speciation, and convergent adaptive evolution. Species limits and associated distributions, however, remain poorly delineated across significant portions of this diverse group and encompassing a vast geographic range. Here, we explore how diversity is partitioned across this radiation with a focus on Neotropical species of Myotis, using a barcoding approach (706 bp of the mitochondrial DNA gene cytochrome-b) that includes 544 individual sequences (116 newly generated sequences and 428 sequences from GenBank, including outgroups). Single-locus molecular barcoding is useful for identifying cryptic diversity and establishing hypotheses that can guide investigations of species boundaries and phylogenetic relationships, an especially important initial step in assessing poorly characterized, diverse clades. The global phylogeny produced from these data is consistent with the hypothesized monophyly of the New World clade and places the evolutionary relationships of Neotropical species of Myotis within the context of the Palearctic and Nearctic clades. We then explore species boundaries for 25 of the 36 nominal species of Neotropical Myotis, using 3 alternative species delimitation approaches (1 distance-based ABGD [Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery]; and 2 coalescent-based mPTP [multi-rate Poisson Tree Processes], GMYC [Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent] model). The mPTP (n = 29 species) and ABGD (n = 26) approaches inferred different numbers of species than that recognized by current Neotropical Myotis taxonomy, whereas GMYC (n = 25) inferred the same number of species. In addition to the original 36 Neotropical nominal species currently recognized, we suggest that taxonomic revisions are needed to assess whether M. oxyotus gardneri and M. nigricans osculatii should be elevated to the species level and whether M. dinellii is distinct from M. levis. With the 7 potentially cryptic species identified herein that require further study, the number of Neotropical Myotis may approach 45 species. Taken together, our results suggest that rather than a classic example of a temperate radiation, there may be more species of Myotis in the Neotropics than Nearctic, Afrotropic, Indomalayan, and Oceanian Realms, with only the Palearctic region showing higher species richness.
Myotis nigricans was previously considered the most widely distributed Neotropical Myotis species, occurring from Mexico to northern Argentina, and several allopatric subspecies have been recognized, including M. n. extremus, from Mexico and Guatemala. However, recent studies have shown that M. nigricans is a species complex—many cryptic. Using molecular and morphological data, we assessed the taxonomic status of M. nigricans populations from Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguayan Chaco, and Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our phylogenetic analysis indicated that M. nigricans is polyphyletic, and the populations classified as M. n. extremus were recovered in a clade composed of species from the ruber group. Populations from Paraguay and Brazil were recovered in distinct clades within the albescens group. Our morphological and morphometric analyzes corroborate the molecular findings, supporting the recognition of M. extremus as a full species. Furthermore, we propose that M. nigricans is a monotypic species occurring exclusively in the South American Atlantic Forest. Populations from other ecoregions should have their taxonomic status redefined in future studies.
Myotis riparius is an insectivorous bat species widely distributed in the Neotropics with evident geographical variation in morphological traits. We conducted an integrative study using mitochondrial DNA, qualitative and quantitative morphology, and current and past species distribution models to investigate the variation, population structure, and distributional limits within M. riparius populations. Phylogenetic inferences indicated that M. riparius is monophyletic, and populations are divided into geographically structured clades that split during the middle Pleistocene. There is no shared haplotype between geographical populations and strong evidence of partial restriction in gene flow. Morphological and morphometric variations revealed subtle distinctions among different populations, but little correspondence with molecular analysis. The distribution models indicated that M. riparius is associated with forest environments, with discontinuity between populations from South American ecoregions. Past distribution modelling, however, indicated that M. riparius had a larger distribution range in the Last Glacial Maximum than currently. Results of modelling and genetic analyses indicated that M. riparius consisted of a large, widespread, and panmictic (meta)population until the middle Pleistocene, when environmental changes driven by climatic dynamics fragmented and isolated the populations. Myotis riparius is here considered a complex of at least four allopatric and parapatric cryptic evolutionary units.
We present an updated of the official checklist of mammals of Ecuador. We follow a taxonomic ordering for the suprageneric categories, but alphabetically for the lower levels. We incorporate and indicate the taxonomic changes that have occurred since the last version published in June 2022. For the elaboration of this list we constantly review of the scientific literature generated and the taxonomic changes that had occurred. The current version of the list of mammals of Ecuador includes 466 native species belonging to 13 orders, 52 families and 209 genera. The mammalian orders with the higher species in Ecuador are Chiroptera (179), Rodentia (134), Artiodactyla (40) and Carnivora (36). We also document 26 additional species that are expected for the Ecuadorian fauna. In addition, we list the corresponding subspecies for the mammals of Ecuador, endemic species (57), extinct species (3), species recorded in the Ecuadorian Antarctic zone (11), and introduced species recorded in the country (18).
