The agony of choice: Species richness and range size in the determination of hotspots for the conservation of phyllostomid bats

•The use of species richness and range size is useful to identify priority regions for the conservation of phyllostomid bats.•The richness-rarity hotspot covered most of the Andean region and up to Panama, with a greater portion in Colombia.•The poorness-rarity hotspot was located in North America, with a major portion in the arid region of Mexico.•Richness-rarity hotspot has a greater proportion of Conservation Units and a greater number of DD species.•In the poorness-rarity hotspot, the conservation of phyllostomid species is at risk due to the lack of Conservation Units.