title: Circum-Mediterranean phylogeography of a bat coupled with past environmental niche modeling: A new paradigm for the recolonization of Europe?
abstract: The isolation of populations in the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas during the ice ages define four main paradigms that explain much of the known distribution of intraspecific genetic diversity in Europe. In this study we investigated the phylogeography of a wide-spread bat species, the bent-winged bat, Miniopterus schreibersii around the Mediterranean basin and in the Caucasus. Environmental Niche Modeling (ENM) analysis was applied to predict both the current distribution of the species and its distribution during the last glacial maximum (LGM). The combination of genetics and ENM results suggest that the populations of M. schreibersii in Europe, the Caucasus and Anatolia went extinct during the LGM, and the refugium for the species was a relatively small area to the east of the Levantine Sea, corresponding to the Mediterranean coasts of present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and northeastern and northwestern Egypt. Subsequently the species first repopulated Anatolia, diversified there, and afterwards expanded into the Caucasus, continental Europe and North Africa after the end of the LGM. The fossil record in Iberia and the ENM results indicate continuous presence of Miniopterus in this peninsula that most probably was related to the Maghrebian lineage during the LGM, which did not persist afterwards. Using our results combined with similar findings in previous studies, we propose a new paradigm explaining the general distribution of genetic diversity in Europe involving the recolonization of the continent, with the main contribution from refugial populations in Anatolia and the Middle East. The study shows how genetics and ENM approaches can complement each other in providing a more detailed picture of intraspecific evolution.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey. Electronic address: rasit.bilgin@boun.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Raşit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bilgin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kanat
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gürün
authors.affiliation: CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, R. Padre Armando Quintas, 11, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rebelo
authors.affiliation: University College Dublin, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; Zoology Institute, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, 17489 Greifswald, Germany; Groupe Chiroptères de Midi-Pyrénées (CREN-GCMP), Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Sebastien J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Puechmaille
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Bebek, Istanbul 34342, Turkey.
authors.forename: Öncü
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Maracı
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cartography of Fauna and Flora, Office, Klunova 3, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Primoz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Presetnik
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic; Department of Zoology, National Museum (Natural History), Václavské náměstí 68, CZ-115 79 Praha 1, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benda
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic; Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, 710 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hulva
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Seville 41092, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ibáñez
authors.affiliation: Croatian Biospeleological Society, Zagreb, Demetrova 1, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamidovic
authors.affiliation: BIUS - Biology Student Association, Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Norma
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fressel
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Horáček
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Niğde University, Niğde 51100, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayşegül
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karataş
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Niğde University, Niğde 51100, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karataş
authors.affiliation: NATURALIA environnement, Gallargues le Montueux, France.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Allegrini
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Knossos Ave, P.O. Box: 2208, GR71 409 Irakleion, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Georgiakakis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology of Mountain Territories RAS, Armand 37A360000, Nalchik, Russia.
authors.forename: Suren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gazaryan
authors.affiliation: Foundation for School, Cluj-Napoca 400486, Romania.
authors.forename: Zoltan L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.affiliation: Animal Encounter, Aley, Lebanon; Faculty of Sciences II, Lebanese University, AlFanar, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Mounir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abi-Said
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Radek K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Lučan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bartonička
authors.affiliation: Parks and Environment Sector, Forestry Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, 1414 Nicosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Haris
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nicolaou
authors.affiliation: Department Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064, Ozzano dell'Emilia (BO), Italy.
authors.forename: Dino
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scaravelli
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society "Mustela", Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Branko
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Karapandža
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Moyzesova 11, SK-040 01 Košice, Slovakia; Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 1176, 165 21 Praha 6, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uhrin
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paunović
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Seville 41092, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Juste
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D000818:Animals; D063368:Balkan Peninsula; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D005060:Europe; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008877:Middle East; D008954:Models, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Anatolia; Environmental niche modeling; Europe; Levant; Microsatellites; Miniopterus schreibersii; Mitochondrial DNA; North Africa; Phylogeography; Refugia