First record of Furipterus horrens on the western slopes of Pichincha Province, with observations on species development and distribution

Furipterus horrens is a rare Neotropical bat that is infrequently recorded during field expeditions across its geographic distribution. Herein, we report a new geographic record of F. horrens from western Ecuador, updating its known geographic distribution within Ecuador and the Neotropics. Between 2018 to 2020, an inventory of the mammal collection at Museo de la Escuela Politécnica Nacional (MEPN) led to the discovery of an unusual geographic record from the western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. The new geographic record for Ecuador corresponds to the voucher specimen MEPN 9603 ♀ collected at Bosque Protector Milpe-Pachijal, in Pichincha Province. We also compiled available records from the scientific literature and GBIF to update the species distribution. We collected 208 records of F. horrens, most of them between 0–190 m in altitude. Revisions of museum specimens revealed novel anatomical characters related to claw development in this thumbless bat. Further studies are needed to determine if F. horrens occurs in other localities in western Ecuador.