Molecular phylogenetics of slit‐faced bats (Chiroptera: Nycteridae) reveal deeply divergent African lineages

• Published in: Journal of zoological systematics and evolutionary research Vol. 57; no. 4; pp. 1019 - 1038
• Main Authors: Demos, Terrence C., Webala, Paul W., Kerbis Peterhans, Julian C., Goodman, Steven M., Bartonjo, Michael, Patterson, Bruce D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Hindawi Limited 01.11.2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Africa; Bats; biodiversity; Chiroptera; Cytochrome; Cytochrome b; Cytochromes; Datasets; Discordance; Dispersal; Ectoparasites; Genetic analysis; Genetic distance; Genetic diversity; Introns; Mitochondria; Morphology; Nycteridae; Nycteris; Original; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Population structure; Species; species tree; taxonomy; Trees; Africa; species tree; biodiversity; taxonomy; Nycteris; Africa
• ISSN: 0947-5745; 1439-0469
• DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12313

The bat family Nycteridae contains only the genus Nycteris, which comprises 13 currently recognized species from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, one species from Madagascar, and two species restricted to Malaysia and Indonesia in South‐East Asia. We investigated genetic variation, clade membership, and phylogenetic relationships in Nycteridae with broad sampling across Africa for most clades. We sequenced mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) and four independent nuclear introns (2,166 bp) from 253 individuals. Although our samples did not include all recognized species, we recovered at least 16 deeply divergent monophyletic lineages using independent mitochondrial and multilocus nuclear datasets in both gene tree and species tree analyses. Mean pairwise uncorrected genetic distances among species‐ranked Nycteris clades (17% for cytb and 4% for concatenated introns) suggest high levels of phylogenetic diversity in Nycteridae. We found a large number of designated clades whose members are distributed wholly or partly in East Africa (10 of 16 clades), indicating that Nycteris diversity has been historically underestimated and raising the possibility that additional unsampled and/or undescribed Nycteris species occur in more poorly sampled Central and West Africa. Well‐resolved mitochondrial, concatenated nuclear, and species trees strongly supported African ancestry for SE Asian species. Species tree analyses strongly support two deeply diverged subclades that have not previously been recognized, and these clades may warrant recognition as subgenera. Our analyses also strongly support four traditionally recognized species groups of Nycteris. Mitonuclear discordance regarding geographic population structure in Nycteris thebaica appears to result from male‐biased dispersal in this species. Our analyses, almost wholly based on museum voucher specimens, serve to identify species‐rank clades that can be tested with independent datasets, such as morphology, vocalizations, distributions, and ectoparasites. Our analyses highlight the need for a comprehensive revision of Nycteridae. We investigated genetic variation, clade membership, and phylogenetic relationships in the bat family Nycteridae with broad sampling across Africa. At least 16 deeply divergent monophyletic lineages were recovered in both gene tree and species tree analyses. Genetic distances among species‐ranked Nycteris clades (17% for cytb and 4% for concatenated introns) suggest high levels of phylogenetic diversity in Nycteridae. A large number of clades are distributed wholly or partly in East Africa (10/16 clades), suggesting Nycteris diversity has been historically underestimated.