Systematics and taxonomy of Platyrrhinus chocoensis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) based on morphometric and genetic analyses: implications for biogeography and conservation

The Neotropical bat genus Platyrrhinus is one of the most speciose genera in the family Phyllostomidae. It includes 20 species of frugivorous bats that are endemic to the Neotropics. Platyrrhinus chocoensis is a species distributed from southern Panama southward into northern Ecuador on the lowlands and mid elevations of the Pacific coast of northern South America, across the Choco Biogeographic region, a hot-spot of biodiversity, extending west of the Andes. Due to its association with the Chocoan rainforest, P. chocoensis was designated as one of the two species of bats included in the Red List of Colombian mammals. Another species of Platyrrhinus, P. dorsalis, also occurs in Colombia and Ecuador along both slopes of the Andes. In contrast with P. chocoensis, P. dorsalis is considered a relatively common bat species within the Least Concern category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. We evaluate the systematics and taxonomy of both species, P. chocoensis and P. dorsalis, using a combination of morphometric and molecular analyses. Although our morphometric analyses support a consistent morphological differentiation between these two taxa, the analyses of mtDNA sequences of Cyt-b and ND2 revealed that P. chocoensis and P. dorsalis have no differentiation at the genetic level for the analyzed markers (0.7%); therefore, we recognize P. chocoensis as a junior synonym of P. dorsalis. In addition, our results support the recognition of two subspecies within P. dorsalis: the nominate P. d. dorsalis and P. d. chocoensis. Finally, we discuss the biogeographic implications of our findings, in particular the consequences of the synonymization of P. chocoensis, that also warrants the reevaluation of the taxonomic and conservation status of P. dorsalis populations from the Chocoan domain.