The Roles of Taxonomy and Systematics in Bat Conservation

Abstract

Taxonomy-the description, naming, and classification of organismsand systematics-the study of the evolutionary relationships of organisms-are both crucial components in conservation, providing a necessary framework for any conservation initiative. With more than 200 new bat species identified or raised from synonymy in the past decade and additional taxa described monthly, the Age of Discovery is ongoing for bats. New taxonomic and systematic discoveries clarify the status of populations, and the recognition of distinct species and lineages allows appropriate conservation strategies to be crafted, increasing the likelihood of recovery. In addition to identifying species and specimens, taxonomists care for vouchers, provide species lists for localities, and communicate taxonomic ideas to non-experts, especially through descriptions, keys, and field guides. Taxonomists can also provide conservation planning tools such as inventory data, estimates of extinction risk and extinction rate, and information for defining protected areas. Despite the importance of taxonomy, a lack of financial and institutional support impedes the training and employment of taxonomists and such factors need to be

A review of the major threats and challenges to global bat conservation

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Detection and phylogenetic characterization of astroviruses in insectivorous bats from Central‐Southern Italy

“…As the majority of human emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, many efforts have been made to identify the animal species that may act as potential reservoir of zoonotic viruses (Olival et al., ). Bats ( Chiroptera ) are regarded as potential reservoirs or source of zoonotic infections, as they sum up a number of traits, including (a) an outstanding variety of species (Tsang, Cirranello, Bates, & Simmons, ); (b) gregarious habits (with colonies that often comprise hundreds or thousands of individuals); (c) resistance to viral infections, as they often harbour viruses without clinical signs (Zhang et al., ); and iv) high mobility, in some cases represented by long‐distance migratory movements (e.g. Flaquer et al., ).…”

Bat Biology, Genomes, and the Bat1K Project: To Generate Chromosome-Level Genomes for All Living Bat Species

“…Indeed, one primary goal of Bat1K is to standardize assembly strategies to provide assemblies of uniform optimal quality for the bat genomics community through combining multiple sequencing and scaffolding technologies (e.g., PacBio+Illumina+HiC+10X; see below for details). Given the more than 1,300 species of bat currently recognized, there is still a long way to go to generate genome sequence data covering Chiroptera (108,109). However, as we outline in the next section, we believe it is important not just to generate genome-level data but to produce high-quality genome sequences that maximize the usefulness and accessibility of the data for all research fields.…”