A new polytypic species of yellow-shouldered bats, genus Sturnira (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), from the Andean and coastal mountain systems of Venezuela and Colombia

Abstract

Sturnira is the most speciose genus of New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae). We name Sturnira adrianae, new species. This taxon is born polytypic, divided into a larger subspecies (S. a. adrianae) widespread in the mountains of northern and western Venezuela, and northern Colombia, and a smaller subspecies (S. a. caripana) endemic to the mountains of northeastern Venezuela. The new species inhabits evergreen, deciduous, and cloud forests at mainly medium (1000–2000 m) elevations. It has long been confused with S. ludovici, but it is more closely related to S. oporaphilum. It can be distinguished from other species of Sturnira by genetic data, and based on discrete and continuously varying characters. Within the genus, the new species belongs to a clade that also includes S. oporaphilum, S. ludovici, S. hondurensis, and S. burtonlimi. The larger new subspecies is the largest member of this clade. The two new subspecies are the most sexually dimorphic members of this clade. The smaller new subspecies is restricted to small mountain systems undergoing severe deforestation processes, therefore can be assigned to the Vulnerable (VU) conservation category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Small Mammals of the Mayo River Basin in Northern Peru, with the Description of a New Species of Sturnira (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

“…In the past decade, bats of the genus Sturnira have been the focus of numerous systematic and taxonomic revisions, and several species had been described based on their results (e.g., Martfnez-Arias et al, 2010;Jarrin-V and Kunz, 2011;Jarrin-V and Clare, 2013;Velazco andPatterson, 2013, 2014; Hernandez-Canchola and Leon-Paniagua, 2017; Molinari et al, 2017). One of the most widespread and widely studied species of the genus, S. lilium, was recently reviewed and split into seven taxa, two of them undescribed (Velazco and Patterson, 2013).…”

“…The genus Sturnira currently includes 23 described species and one unnamed form, making it the most speciose phyllostomid genus (Velazco and Patterson, 2013;Velazco and Patterson, 2014;Molinari et al, 2017). A multilocus phylogenetic analysis of the genus by Velazco and Patterson (2013) identified three unnamed taxa.…”

Systematics of the broad-nosed bats,Platyrrhinus umbratus(Lyon, 1902) andP. nigellus(Gardner and Carter, 1972) (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), based on genetic, morphometric, and ecological niche analyses

“…Platyrrhinus is one the most speciose genera of its family. Similarly to Sturnira, another speciose genus of frugivorous phyllostomids, the diversity of Platyrrhinus, peaks along the tropical Andes [5][6][7][8]. Members of the genus occur primarily in lowland and montane forest, from sea level to at least 3,350 m [3,9,10].…”

First record of Platyrrhinus albericoi Velazco, 2005 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae) in the eastern slope of the Central Andes of Colombia

“…Platyrrhinus Saussure, 1860 (Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae) is one of the most diverse phyllostomid genera found in the Neotropics with 20 species (Velazco et al 2018, Velazco andPatterson, 2008) and is surpassed only by the genus Sturnira with 22 species (Molinari et al 2017) and Artibeus with 23 species (Hoofer et al 2008, Redondo et al 2008, Solari et al 2009. In Colombia, Platyrrhinus is represented by 14 species (Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016), but their geographic and altitudinal ranges vary widely (Velazco and Solari 2003, Gardner 2008, Velazco and Gardner 2009.…”