Notes on the distribution, morphology, and phylogenetics of Platyrrhinus incarum (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Brazil, and confirmation that Platyrrhinus helleri does not occur in the country

Abstract

Changes in Neotropical bat taxonomy in the past two decades have caused significant shifts in our understanding of the diversity and distribution of the group. Taxonomic revisions have shown that the once widespread Platyrrhinus helleri (Peters, 1866) represented a species complex, which resulted in the elevation of Platyrrhinus helleri incarum (Thomas, 1912) to the species level for cis-Andean South America and the restriction of P. helleri to Central America and northern South America west of the Andes. Nevertheless, some studies still mention P. helleri for Brazil. Aiming to investigate if P. helleri occurs in Brazil, we collected specimens of small-sized Platyrrhinus in the Cerrado and Pantanal ecosystems, and revised vouchers in museum collections. Based on DNA sequence data and analysis of the pelage and craniodental morphology, we confirm that the only small Platyrrhinus species occurring in Cerrado and Pantanal of central Brazil corresponds to P. incarum. This is the first study to provide sequence data for Brazilian P. incarum. We also provide new records of P. incarum, extending its range by 390 km to southeast and 480 km to the east in Brazil.