Jerry R. Choate M.A. Bogan Terry L. Yates E.W. Valdez 1999 <p>The taxonomic status of the Arizona myotis (<i>Myotis occultus</i>) is uncertain. Although the taxon was described as a distinct species and currently is regarded as such by some authors, others have noted what they interpreted as intergradation with the little brown bat (<i>M.</i> <i>lucifugus carissima</i>) near the Colorado-New Mexico state line. In this study, we used protein electrophoresis to compare bats of these nominal taxa. We examined 20 loci from 142 specimens referable to <i>M. occultus</i> and <i>M. lucifugus</i> from New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. Nine of the 20 loci were polymorphic. Results show that there were high similarities among samples, no fixed alleles, and minor divergence from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Our results suggest that the two nominal taxa represent only one species and that <i>M. occultus</i> should be regarded as a subspecies of <i>M. lucifugus</i>.</p> application/pdf 10.2307/1383300 en Oxford Academic Taxonomic status of <i>Myotis occultus</i> article