Challenging the allopatric patterns of night monkeys: ecological niche modeling within the <i>Aotus lemurinus</i> complex

Abstract The Aotus lemurinus complex comprises three-night monkey species: Aotus griseimembra , A. lemurinus , and Aotus zonalis , whose distributions have historically been described as allopatric. In this study we applied ecological niche modeling (ENM) to evaluate this long-held hypothesis by comparing their climatic niches and estimate their potential geographic distributions. We assessed regions of potential distribution overlap to determine whether species distributions agree with allopatric, sympatric or parapatric patterns. Further, we quantified pairwise climatic niche similarity test to analyze niche conservatism patterns in this complex. Our results revealed potential regions of sympatry and parapatric contact identified in the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia and along the Colombia -Panama border, spanning elevations above and below 1,000 m. We found a phylogenetic niche conservatism within the complex. Thus A. griseimembra and A. lemurinus , most related species, showed the moderate higher climatic niche similarity, than the other pairwise comparissons. Overall, these findings challenge the allopatric distribution model and underscore a more dynamic ecological and biogeographic structure within the A. lemurinus complex, highlighting the importance of considering transitional zones and historical processes when interpreting their distributional patterns.