A revision of the Conepatus semistriatus (Boddaert, 1784) species group (Mammalia, Carnivora, Mephitidae) of Mesoamerica and northern South America, with the description of two new subspecies of C. zorilla (Fischer, 1829)

The Hog-nosed Skunks of the Conepatus semistriatus species group were recently proposed to consist of three species: C. semistriatus (Boddaert, 1784), C. conepatl (Gmelin, 1788), and C. zorilla (Fischer, 1829), with the latter species divided into four subspecies, including the nominotypical subspecies and C. z. elieceri Molinari, Abarca-Medina & Rivas-Rodríguez, 2024, as well as two undescribed subspecies, one with a lowland Trans-Andean distribution in Venezuela and Colombia and another endemic to the Península de Paraguaná, Venezuela. This study assesses the taxonomy of these skunks. Multivariate analyses of 25 cranial measurements revealed all species and subspecies to be well differentiated, supporting their taxonomic recognition. Accordingly, the two proposed new subspecies are formally described. Members of the C. semistriatus species group are compared on the basis of taxonomically informative characters with one another and with all other recognized species of Hog-nosed Skunks. These results expand the morphological knowledge of Conepatus and provide further evidence that the occupation of open-vegetation biomes, geographic isolation, and elevational gradientes have been major drivers of diversification within the genus.