RESUMO
Thirteen species of Neotropical bats of the genus Micronycteris are currently recognized and are allocated to four subgenera Leuconycteris, Micronycteris, Schizonycteris, and Xenonectes. Despite that, the presence of polyphyletic clades in molecular phylogenies suggests that its diversity is underestimated. Additionally, the incorrect identification of some genetic sequences, the incorrect assignation of available valid names, and restricted geographic sampling have biased the identification of independently evolutionary lineages within Micronycteris. In this study, several unknown genealogical lineages in the genus are identified and an updated phylogenetic hypothesis is proposed using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA fragments. The phylogenetic analyses congruently showed all individuals in four well-supported subgenera, but M. schmidtorum was revealed as the sister taxon of M. brosseti in the subgenus Leuconycteris. Twenty-seven different genealogical lineages were identified. These included eight confirmed species: M. brosseti, M. buriri, M. giovanniae, M. matses, M. schmidtorum, M. simmonsae, M. tresamici, and M. yatesi. Nineteen either allopatric or parapatric candidate species were also confirmed, two within the M. hirsuta complex, nine within the M. megalotis complex, seven within the M. minuta complex, and one corresponding to "M. sp.". These results revealed an extensive undescribed diversity within each subgenus of Micronycteris. Nevertheless, the evolutionary processes associated with the specific radiations are poorly understood. This is just the beginning of the assessment of the taxonomy and systematics of Micronycteris, which requires additional integrative taxonomical approaches for its advance.
RESUMO
RESUMEN La Serranía de La Lindosa es una formación geomorfológica que presenta heterogeneidad en sus coberturas vegetales. Esta zona se encuentra en una situación contradictoria debido a que presenta una elevada biodiversidad, sin embargo, es uno de los actuales focos de deforestación más grandes de Colombia. A pesar de que se espera una alta diversidad de murciélagos en La Lindosa existe poca información publicada sobre este grupo. Este trabajo presenta los resultados de inventarios de murciélagos realizados durante cinco años en la Serranía de la Lindosa. Se compara la diversidad (riqueza, composición y estructura) de los ensamblajes de murciélagos en dos tipos principales de cobertura vegetal, los bosques húmedos y las sabanas casmófitas. Los inventarios recogen información de 735 murciélagos capturados, correspondientes a 46 especies. De estas, 14 especies se encontraron solamente en sabanas casmófitas, 11 en bosques húmedos y 19 en los dos tipos de vegetación. De esta manera, se evidencia una alta complementariedad en la composición de especies de murciélagos entre los dos tipos de vegetación. Adicionalmente, la estructura de los ensamblajes de murciélagos varió entre los dos ambientes. La abundancia entre las especies es más homogénea en las sabanas casmófitas con un mayor número de especies raras comparado con los bosques húmedos. En general, la alta diversidad de murciélagos de la Serranía de La Lindosa puede estar relacionada con la heterogeneidad en la vegetación, la presencia de diferentes tipos de cuevas, y la historia evolutiva de las especies de murciélagos asociados a la Región Guayana.
ABSTRACT The Serranía La Lindosa is a geomorphological formation with land cover heterogeneity. This area faces a contradictory situation because it has high biodiversity and provides several ecosystem services, and yet it is one of the current largest deforestation sites in Colombia. Bats is a taxonomic group with high expected diversity in La Lindosa, but there is little published information about this group. This paper presents the results of bat inventories carried out during five years in the Lindosa mountain range. Additionally, diversity is compared in terms of species richness, composition, and structure of bat assemblies in two main types ofvegetation cover evident in the area, which are humid forests and casmophytic savannas. Inventories collected information on 735 captured bats, corresponding to 46 species. Of these, 14 species were found only in casmophytic savannas, 11 in humid forests, and 19 in both types of vegetation. Thus, there is high complementarity in bat species composition between the two vegetation types. Additionally, the structure of bat assemblies varied between the two environments, with a proportional distribution of species abundance more homogeneous in casmophytic savannas than in forests. Besides, a higher number of rare species was found in casmophytic savannas. In general, the high diversity of bats of the Serranía de La Lindosa could be associated with vegetation heterogeneity, presence of different cave types and evolutionary history of bat species associated with the Guayana Region.
