Taxonomic status of southern South American Conepatus (Carnivora: Mephitidae)

SCHIAFFINI, MAURO; GABRIELLI, MAGALÍ; CARDOZO, YAMILA; PREVOSTI, FRANSISCO; CASTILLO, DIEGO; BO, ROBERTO; CASANAVE, EMMA; LIZARRALDE, MARTA

ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013 vol. 167 p. 327 - 344

0024-4082

In recent years, taxonomic status of Mephitidae and North American hog-nosed skunks has been critically evaluated. However, southern South American Conepatus species remain poorly known in this context. Conepatus chinga and C. humboldtii were described more than 150 years ago, based on external characters such as hair coloration and size. Despite their long taxonomic history, to date no detailed systematic analysis has been performed for either of these species. Herein, we evaluated the taxonomic status of C. chinga and C. humboldtii within the southern part of South America using both modern and traditional techniques, such as geometric morphometrics of skull and mandible, mitochondrial DNA analysis and pelage pattern variation. We fail to find morphological (skull shape and pelage coloration pattens) or molecular differences, thus we considered that the specimens assigned to C. chinga and C. humboldtii belong to the same species. Environmental variation seems responsible for shape and size variation in Conepatus skull.