Intraspecific Phylogeny of the New Zealand Short-Tailed Bat Mystacina tuberculata Inferred from Multiple Mitochondrial Gene Sequences

Abstract

An intraspecific phylogeny was established for the New Zealand short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata using a 2,878-bp sequence alignment from multiple mitochondrial genes (control region, ND2, 12S ribosomal RNA [rRNA], 16S rRNA, and tRNA). The inferred phylogeny comprises six lineages, with estimated divergences extending back between 0.93 and 0.68 million years to the middle Pleistocene. The lineages do not correspond to the existing subspecific taxonomy. Although multiple lineages occur sympatrically in many populations, the lineages are geographically structured. This structure has persisted despite repeated cycles of range expansion and contraction in response to climatic oscillations and catastrophic volcanic eruptions. The distribution of lineages among populations in central North Island indicates that a hybrid zone was formed by simultaneous colonization from single-lineage source populations inhabiting remote forest refugia. The observed pattern is not typical of microbats, which because of their high mobility generally exhibit low levels of genetic differentiation and geographic structure over continental ranges. Although lineages of M. tuberculata occur sympatrically in many populations, genetic distances between them are sufficiently large to suggest that they may be considered evolutionary significant units or taxonomic subspecies.

Recent evolutionary history of New Zealand's North and South Island Kokako (Callaeas cinerea) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

“…For example, studies by Lloyd (2003aLloyd ( , 2003b found New Zealand's endemic Short-tailed Bat contains six distinct mitochondrial lineages that probably diverged in the mid-Pleistocene owing to allopatric fragmentation. The North Island lineages show evidence of population expansion and the mixing in the central region of the Island but the distribution remains consistent with an isolation-by-distance dispersal model.…”

Evolution of New Zealand's terrestrial fauna: a review of molecular evidence

“…Flying forest birds (e.g. parakeets: Boon et al 2001a;Australasian robins: H. C. Miller 2003, unpublished data;kokako: Murphy et al 2006;wood pigeons: J. Goldberg 2008, unpublished data) and the endemic short-tailed bat (Lloyd 2003) also have low levels of genetic variation among populations, suggesting they too suffered intense bottlenecking during the Mid-to Late Pleistocene. Cicadas of the genus Kikihia are found throughout New Zealand in many lowland habitats and several species have moved into the sub-alpine region, but none are alpine.…”

Mitochondrial DNA signatures at different spatial scales: from the effects of the Straits of Gibraltar to population structure in the meridional serotine bat (Eptesicus isabellinus)

“…Despite their ability to fly, they show relatively high levels of genetic structuring, probably related to their diversified social organization systems: for example, Myotis bechsteinii, Myotis myotis, Macroderma gigas and Mystacina tuberculata (Worthington Wilmer et al, 1999;Kerth et al, 2000;Lloyd, 2003;Ruedi and Castella, 2003). The exceptions are the few migratory species, whose populations are typically poorly subdivided for example, Tadarida brasiliensis and Pteropus sp.…”