Geographical separation and physiology drive differentiation of microbial communities of two discrete populations of the bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae.

In this paper, we explore how two discrete and geographically separated populations of the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae)-one in central and the other in the Pacific region of Mexico-differ in their fecal microbiota composition. Considering the microbiota-host as a unity, in which extrinsic (as food availability and geography) or intrinsic factors (as physiology) play an important role in the microbiota composition, we would expect differentiation in the microbiota of two geographically separated populations. The Amplicon Sequences Variants (ASVs) of the V4 region of the 16s rRNA gene from 68 individuals were analyzed using alpha and beta diversity metrics.