Four new bat species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii complex) reflect Plio-Pleistocene divergence of dwarfs and giants across an Afromontane archipelago.

ABSTRACT: Gigantism and dwarfism evolve in vertebrates restricted to islands. We describe four new species in the Rhinolophus hildebrandtii species-complex of horseshoe bats, whose evolution has entailed adaptive shifts in body size. We postulate that vicissitudes of palaeoenvironments resulted in gigantism and dwarfism in habitat islands fragmented across eastern and southern Africa. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences recovered two clades of R. hildebrandtii senso lato which are paraphyletic with respect to a third lineage (R. eloquens). Lineages differ by 7.7 to 9.0% in cytochrome b sequences. Clade 1 includes R. hildebrandtii sensu stricto from the east African highlands and three additional vicariants that speciated across an Afromontane archipelago through the Plio-Pleistocene, extending f

SUBMITTER: Taylor PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3440430 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature