bioRxiv Science⌕ Search

bioRxiv · 10.1101/462051

Large Anoura (Chiroptera:Glossophaginae) taxonomy, taxonomic status of Anoura carishina, and implications for the distribution of Anoura latidens in Colombia.

Abstract

The Anoura geoffroyi species complex is composed of 3 large species: A. geoffroyi, A. peruana, and A. carishina. Several inconsistencies arise from the description of A. carishina, and given the lack of a comparison with the dentition and external characters of A. latidens, here we compare the taxonomic characters of these species. To understand the position of A. carishina in the morphospace occupied by large Anoura, we conducted a Principal Component Analysis on 12 craniodental and 11 external variables. We complement our results with further analysis of traits thought to be diagnostic for these species, including 1) an elliptical Fourier transformation analysis of the shape of the third upper premolar (P4), 2) a comparison of the area of the second (P3) and third (P4) upper premolars, and 3) a comparison of maxillary toothrow angles. We find that A. carishina is morphologically indistinguishable from A. latidens, and that there is broad overlap in morphology between A. latidens and A. geoffroyi. However several characters found in A. latidens are lacking in A. geoffroyi, including a triangular shape to the P4 caused by a medial-internal cusp enclosed by the base of the tooth, a lack of development of the anterobasal cusp in the P3, a smaller braincase, and a shorter rostrum. We reassess the distribution of Anoura latidens in Colombia, adding new records and correcting previously-published records that were misidentified. Overall, our results suggest that a stable taxonomy for the group should consider A. carishina as a junior synonym of A. latidens, and that, although A. latidens is distinguishable from A. geoffroyi, further genetic and taxonomic work is needed in to clarify species limits within the A. geoffroyi species complex.\n\nEl complejo de especies Anoura geoffroyi se compone de 3 especies, A. geoffroyi, A. peruana, y A. carishina. La descripcion de Anoura carishina posee varias inconsistencias, y dado que no se realizo una comparacion con A. latidens, realizamos una comparacion de los caracteres taxonomicos de ambas especies. Para entender la posicion de A. carishina en el morfoespacio ocupado por los Anoura grandes realizamos un Analisis de Componentes Principales usando 12 variables craneo-dentales y 11 variables externas. Complementamos nuestros resultados con 1) un analisis de transformacion eliptica de Fourier de la forma del tercer premolar superior (P4) 2) una comparacion del area del segundo (P3) y tercer (P4) premolares superiores y 3) una comparacion de los angulos de las hileras dentales maxilares. Encontramos que A. carishina es morfologicamente indistinguible de A. latidens y que existe una amplio superposicion en la morfologia de A. latidens y A. geoffroyi. Sin embargo, la forma del P4, una cuspide anterobasal no desarrollada en el P3, y caracteres relacionados con una caja craneana menos inflada y un rostro corto son utiles en distinguir A. latidens de A. geoffroyi. Reevaluamos la distribucion de Anoura latidens en Colombia, al agregar nuevos registros y corrigiendo registros previamente publicados que se encontraban mal identificados. En general, nuestros resultados sugieren que una taxonomia estable para el grupo deberia considerar a A. carishina como un sinonimo junior de A. latidens, que A. latidens es distinguible de A. geoffroyi utilizando medidas craneo-dentales y resalta la necesidad de estudios geneticos para esclarecer las relaciones filogeneticas entre A. latidens y el complejo de especies A. geoffroyi.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Calderon-Acevedo, C. A., Rodriguez-Posada, M. E., Muchhala, N.. 2018-11-05. Large Anoura (Chiroptera:Glossophaginae) taxonomy, taxonomic status of Anoura carishina, and implications for the distribution of Anoura latidens in Colombia.. https://doi.org/10.1101/462051

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

A baseline for aquatic parasite diversity in West African mangroves: host-parasite records, DNA barcodes, and an experimental design for future use

Macroparasites represent a major fraction of biodiversity and biomass in marine ecosystems, yet remain substantially underrepresented in ecological surveys and food-web models, particularly in the Global South. This study addresses this geographic bias by providing the first comprehensive ecological survey of macroparasite communities of fishes in a West African Marine Protected Area (MPA) and adjacent Open-Access Area (OAA) characterised by mangrove forests. We collected 5,020 parasite specimens from 10 fish and one crab species in the Saloum Delta, Senegal, identifying 27 parasite species across all major taxa. Our findings include 15 new records for Senegal of which 11 are also new for West Africa. Additionally, 64% of host-parasite combinations constitute new host records. We provide 208 DNA barcodes, offering the first molecular data for 31% of these species globally and establishing a reference library for future DNA metabarcoding efforts in the region. Using sample size-corrected biodiversity indices and mixed-model analyses, we detected significant variations in parasite infracommunities and component communities between the MPA and OAA, demonstrating the feasibility of using comparative study designs to monitor fisheries impacts on parasite diversity in the Saloum Delta. Furthermore, the identification of trophically transmitted parasites provided evidence of unstudied food-web connections, e.g. predator-prey linkages between fishes and higher-trophic-level definitive hosts including birds and elasmobranchs. By integrating morphological identification, molecular data, and archiving of voucher specimens into publicly accessible, curated collections, this study establishes a new baseline for marine parasite biodiversity in West Africa and provides a methodological blueprint for surveying understudied regions.

zoology↗

Sea slugs unplugged: Review of subpopulation sampling in phylogeographic studies of nudibranchs and their allies

Nudibranchs and other sea slugs include many cryptic species groups with unknown phenotypic and ecological diversity. How broadly and deeply should researchers sample those cryptic species pairs to capture the genetic variation within each species and potential adaptive differences between species? Fast and inexpensive surveys of genetic diversity that sample a single well-known locus across the geographical range ("phylogeography unplugged") have long been used to identify structured populations and guide choice of sampling localities for subsequent comparative genomic or phenotypic studies of the same species. Results from such studies might also be used to better understand the expected relationships between sampling and population structure in future comparative studies in other species (including many marine gastropods) for which an unplugged phylogeographic survey is not available or impractical. We reviewed analyses of molecular variance that used mitochondrial barcode sequences from marine sea slugs, and we asked whether there are characteristic patterns of subpopulation sampling that are associated with the magnitude and geographical scale of differentiation. We found wide variation in sampling designs: studies with both many and few samples discovered significant population differentiation or broadly similar distribution of haplotypes on both large and small spatial scales, in species from different higher taxonomic groups and oceans. We found two significant associations between sampling variables and population genetic variables, and we suggest using those associations to help guide (or understand the consequences of) sampling design in future studies.

zoology↗

A novel methodology for assessing reinforcement choice in primates under human care

Positive Reinforcement Training is a technique commonly employed in zoological collections to elicit a desired behaviour from an animal under human care. Typically, a food item is offered as a reward for performing that behaviour. Three non-human primate species (Mandrillus sphinx, Pan troglodytes, and Hylobates lar) were offered four different foods (banana, grape, apple, and sweet potato) in a series of choice experiments. Latent variable models were employed to investigate which foods were the best selection to use as reinforcement items. Results show that food preference varies between the three primate species. Pan troglodytes and H. lar showed strong preferences for grape and banana, whereas M. sphinx showed a very strong preference for sweet potato. This study indicates that foraging ecology might play an important part in fruit selection and preference in primates. The findings highlight that understanding a species' natural behaviour and dietary preferences is key to informing reinforcement and training decisions.

zoology↗