Postcranial Skeleton of Seven Genera of Bats of the Family Phyllostomidae from Northwestern Argentina: Description and Comparisons

GAUDIOSO, PABLO; BARQUEZ R.M.; DÍAZ M. M.

San José

Congreso; 16th International Bat Research Conference & 43rd North American Symposium on Bat Research; 2013

The North American Society for Bat Research

In Argentina, the phyllostomids are the second most diverse group of bats, represented by 19 species. Eleven of that species, belonging to four subfamilies, and representing five trophic guilds, are distributed in the northwestern the country, an area from where we describe and compare seven species and seven genera, based on 28 specimens collected and prepared as complete skeletons, and deposited at the Colección Mamíferos Lillo, Tucumán, Argentina. Our objectives were to describe and compare the structure, size, shape and orientation of each element of the post-cranial skeleton of all the analyzed species. Differences were found in both, the axial and the appendicular skeleton. In the axial skeleton, the differences were observed in the neural arch, spinous process, and transverse process and foramen of the vertebrae. In the scapular and pelvic girdles, the differences were found in the sternum (e.g. lateral, posterior and ventral processes of manubrium), and pelvis (e.g. gluteal fossae, isquiatic tuberosity, ascending ramus of ischium) respectively. In the forelimbs and hindlimbs, the variations were observed in the proximal and distal epiphysis of humerus and radius and in the head, and greater and lesser trochanters of the femur and proximal epiphysis of the tibia. This set of characters brings important information to help in the understanding of the possible adaptations of the postcranial skeleton for each type of feeding habits, and in the future they could be use as complementary evidence for phylogenetic studies.