Abstract
The Stripe-headed Round-eared bat, Tonatia saurophila, includes three subspecies: Tonatia saurophila saurophila (known only from subfossil records in Jamaica), Tonatia saurophila bakeri (distributed from southeastern Mexico to northern Colombia, Venezuela west and north of the Cordillera de Mérida, and northwestern Ecuador), and Tonatia saurophila maresi (distributed in Venezuela east and south of the Cordillera de Mérida, the Guianas, Trinidad and Tobago, northeastern Brazil, and along the upper Amazon basin in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia). The last two subspecies are an attractive example to test predictions about the historical role of the Andes in mammalian diversification. Based on morphological descriptions, morphometric analyses, and phylogenetic reconstruction using the mitochondrial gene Cyt-b and the nuclear exon RAG2, this study evaluates the intraspecific relationships within Tonatia saurophila and the taxonomic status of the taxon. The three subspecies of T. saurophila are recognizable as full species: Tonatia bakeri, Tonatia maresi, and Tonatia saurophila. The latter is restricted to its type locality and possibly is extinct. Tonatia bakeri, in addition to being larger than T. maresi, is morphologically distinguishable by possessing an acute apex at the posterior edge of the skull, a well-developed clinoid process, and relatively robust mandibular condyles, and by lacking a diastema between the canine and the first lower premolar. The genetic distance between T. bakeri and T. maresi is 7.65%.
Highlights
The Neotropical bat genus Tonatia Gray, 1827 (Phyllostomidae, Phyllostominae) includes two species: T. saurophila and T. bidens
The statistical analyses performed on data obtained from measurements of the entire sample set of Tonatia saurophila found no sexual dimorphism within groups for the analyzed variables
We found that specimens from Central America and the western foothills of the Andes in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador (Tonatia saurophila bakeri) share similar morphometric characteristics that separate them from specimens from Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil and individuals from eastern foothills of the mountain range in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Tonatia saurophila maresi), which form morphometrically independent groups (Figs 1, 2)
Summary
The Neotropical bat genus Tonatia Gray, 1827 (Phyllostomidae, Phyllostominae) includes two species: T. saurophila and T. bidens. This genus is widely distributed from the southern Mexico to northern Argentina and Paraguay (Williams and Genoways 2008). A decade later, Gray (1838) described Phyllostoma childreni, a species with similar characteristics to V. bidens, based on a single specimen without a precise location in South America. Lee et al (2002) examined DNA sequence variation in the mitochondrial ribosomal genes and found significant differentiation and paraphyly within the genus Tonatia Based on these results, Lee et al (2002) recommended restricting Tonatia to T. bidens and T. saurophila and transferring brasiliense, carrikeri, evotis, schulzi, and silvicola to Lophostoma. Williams et al (1995) described two subspecies in T. saurophila: T. s. bakeri and T. s. maresi
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