Genetic and Phenotypic Differences Between South African Long-Fingered Bats, With a Global Miniopterine Phylogeny

Miller‐Butterworth, Cassandra M.; Eick, Geeta; Jacobs, David S.; Schoeman, M. Corrie; Harley, Eric H.

doi:10.1644/05-mamm-a-021r1.1

Cited by 69 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The Malagasy species M. gleni and M. majori are sister to one another with M. manavi sensu stricto also grouping with low support. The samples collected in Mozambique group with two previously published sequences from Zambia identified as M. schreibersii (Miller-Butterworth et al 2005). This clade shows a clear distinction from all other described clades composed of bats with comparable body size and geographic distribution to the Mozambique specimens, with 11-17% sequence divergence from all other ingroup taxa.…”

Section: Molecular Analysessupporting

confidence: 50%

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A cryptic new species of Miniopterus from south-eastern Africa based on molecular and morphological characters

Monadjem

Stanley

Appleton

2013

Zootaxa

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Resolving species limits within the genus Miniopterus has traditionally been complicated by the presence of cryptic species with overlapping morphological features. We use molecular techniques, cranio-dental characters and tragus shape to describe a new species of Miniopterus from Mozambique, M. mossambicus. Miniopterus mossambicus shows > 12% divergence in cytochrome-b sequence from its nearest congeners (the Malagasy M. gleni and M. griveaudi) and > 15% divergence from the morphologically similar M. natalensis, M. fraterculus and M. minor (all of which occur in southern and eastern Africa). There is considerable overlap in cranio-dental characters of the southern African species, particularly M. natalensis and M. mossambicus. However, tragus shape and multivariate comparisons of skull measurements can be used to separate these species. Based on morphological comparisons of museum specimens, this species may also be present in neighbouring Malawi and Zimbabwe, suggesting that it is probably distributed widely in south-central Africa.Key words: taxonomy, morphometrics, molecular genetics, Miniopterus, Mozambique RésuméRésoudre les délimitations des espèces au sein du genre Miniopterus a toujours été compliqué à cause de la présence d'espèces cryptiques dont les caractéristiques morphologiques se chevauchent. Nous utilisons des techniques moléculaires, des caractères cranio-dentaires et la forme des tragus pour décrire une nouvelle espèce de Miniopterus venant du Mozambique, M. mossambicus. Les séquences de cytochrome-b de M. mossambicus montrent une divergence supérieure à 13% par rapport à ses plus proches congénères (les formes malgache M. gleni et M. griveaudi), et une divergence supérieure à 15% par rapport à M. natalensis, M. minor et M. fraterculus qui lui sont morphologiquement semblables (ces dernières sont distribuées dans le sud et l'est de l'Afrique). Il y a un chevauchement considérable des caractères cranio-dentaires des espèces du sud du continent africain, en particulier M. natalensis et M. mossambicus. Cependant, la forme du tragus et les comparaisons multivariées des mesures crâniennes peuvent être utilisées pour séparer ces espèces. Sur la base de la comparaison morphologique des spécimens muséologiques, cette espèce pourrait également être présente dans les pays voisins du Malawi et du Zimbabwe, ce qui suggère qu'elle est probablement largement distribuée en Afrique sud-centrale.

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Section: Molecular Analysessupporting

confidence: 50%

“…It has proved particularly difficult to resolve species limits within the African members of the genus Miniopterus (Miller-Butterworth et al 2005). This widespread genus, occurring throughout the Old World (Simmons 2005), has recently been placed in its own family, Miniopteridae (Miller-Butterworth et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cryptic new species of Miniopterus from south-eastern Africa based on molecular and morphological characters

Monadjem

Stanley

Appleton

2013

Zootaxa

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“…The mountain contains a remarkable variety of habitats that support many rare, threatened and endemic species, which include the endemic Mulanje cedar, Widdringtonia whytei Rendle, a critically endangered flagship species (Bayliss et al 2007). The montane forests are part of a National Forest Reserve, but in response to growing rates of deforestation and illegal encroachment, reserve boundaries have been constricted five times since their delineation in 1927 (Bouvier 2006;available [1969][1970][1971][1972][1973][1974][1975][1976][1977][1978] is 1725 mm in the lowland, rising to 2425 mm at the entrance to the Ruo Gorge where mid-altitude vegetation starts (900 m), and increasing further to 3108 mm on the Lichenya Plateau west of our gradient (1850 m; Dowsett-Lemaire 1988). A large proportion of this precipitation (17-21%) arrives during the dry season (May-September) in the form of mist, drizzle and occasional showers brought by moist maritime air from the Mozambique Channel to the high plateaux and steep slopes.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…using mitochondrial genes ND2 and cytochrome b). Because the taxonomy of African Miniopterus requires further revision (Miller-Butterworth et al 2005), the species recorded in this study are referred to as sp. 1-4, with likely affiliations to known species given in parentheses.…”

Section: Bat Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species diversity of bats along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Mulanje, southern Malawi

et al. 2012

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A climate model, based on effects of water availability and temperature, was recently proposed to explain global variation in bat species richness along altitudinal gradients. Yet such studies are sparse in the tropics and nearabsent in Africa. Here we present results from an altitudinal study of bat diversity from Mount Mulanje, Malawi. Using ground nets, canopy nets and harp traps, we sampled eight sites across three habitat zones from 630 m to 2010 m asl. We assessed the influence of climatic, geographic and biotic variables on measures of estimated species richness, Fisher's α, and an unbiased index of compositional turnover. We recorded 723 individuals and 30 species along the gradient, revealing a 'low plateau' pattern in estimated species richness, peaking at 1220 m, which is congruent with the global climate model. Measures of local habitat structure significantly explained a large degree of variation in species richness and compositional turnover between sites. Fisher's α was further significantly correlated to mean annual relative humidity, suggesting a background climatic influence.

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“…This genus contains a considerable number of cryptic species across their Old World distribution (Cardinal and Christidis, 2000;Appleton et al, 2004;Stoffberg et al, 2004;Miller-Butterworth et al, 2005;Juste et al, 2007). Peterson et al (1995) recognized four taxa from Madagascar, two of which also occurred on the Comoros (M. manavi Thomas, 1906 and M. majori Thomas, 1906), one shared with Africa (M. fraterculus Thomas and Schwann, 1906), and the fourth endemic to the island (M. gleni Peterson et al, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Molecular Phylogenetic and Morphological Tools to Identify Cryptic and Paraphyletic Species: Examples from the Diminutive Long-fingered Bats (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae: Miniopterus) on Madagascar

Maminirina¹,

Bradman²,

Christidis³

et al. 2009

American Museum Novitates

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Based on nearly complete (1125 bp) cytochrome-b sequence data and morphological characters, two new endemic species of Miniopterus are described from Madagascar that were previously identified as M. manavi. Using phylogenetic analysis, the basal nodes of major lineages in the Malagasy members of this genus are weakly supported, while, in most cases, the branches leading to each of the clades are well resolved. Miniopterus mahafaliensis, new species, occurs in the southwestern semidesert areas and M. brachytragos, new species, has a broad distribution across the northern half of the island, ranging across several different biomes. Phylogenetic inference indicates that these two new taxa are not closely related to M. manavi sensu stricto, with average genetic distances of 9.2% and 5.7% from this taxon, respectively. On the basis of this and previous revisions, the former M. manavi complex is now recognized to represent at least five taxa, which do not form a monophyletic group with respect to one another, and represent extraordinary examples of convergent evolution. Miniopterus brachytragos is closely related to the recently named M. aelleni, while M. mahafaliensis is not closely associated with any of these species. Molecular phylogenetic analysis was imperative to resolve the species limits of these taxa and morphology then provided the means to corroborate the recovered clades. There are localities on the island, specifically limestone karstic zones, where four species of the former M. manavi sensu lato complex occur in strict sympatry. These species often use the same day-roost caves and have similar external and craniodental measurements. This raises intriguing questions as to how these animals divide their worlds with regard to dietary regimes and foraging strategies, as well as their speciation history.

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Genetic and Phenotypic Differences Between South African Long-Fingered Bats, With a Global Miniopterine Phylogeny

Cited by 69 publications

References 63 publications

A cryptic new species of Miniopterus from south-eastern Africa based on molecular and morphological characters

A cryptic new species of Miniopterus from south-eastern Africa based on molecular and morphological characters

Species diversity of bats along an altitudinal gradient on Mount Mulanje, southern Malawi

The Use of Molecular Phylogenetic and Morphological Tools to Identify Cryptic and Paraphyletic Species: Examples from the Diminutive Long-fingered Bats (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae: Miniopterus) on Madagascar

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