title: Unveiling the Hidden Bat Diversity of a Neotropical Montane Forest.
abstract: Mountain environments, characterized by high levels of endemism, are at risk of experiencing significant biodiversity loss due to current trends in global warming. While many acknowledge their importance and vulnerability, these ecosystems still remain poorly studied, particularly for taxa that are difficult to sample such as bats. Aiming to estimate the amount of cryptic diversity among bats of a Neotropical montane cloud forest in Talamanca Range-south-east Central America-, we performed a 15-night sampling campaign, which resulted in 90 captured bats belonging to 8 species. We sequenced their mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and screened their inter- and intraspecific genetic variation. Phylogenetic relations with conspecifics and closely related species from other geographic regions were established using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inference methods, as well as median-joining haplotype networks. Mitochondrial lineages highly divergent from hitherto characterized populations (> 9% COI dissimilarity) were found in Myotis oxyotus and Hylonycteris underwoodi. Sturnira burtonlimi and M. keaysi also showed distinct mitochondrial structure with sibling species and/or populations. These results suggest that mountains in the region hold a high degree of endemicity potential that has previously been ignored in bats. They also warn of the high extinction risk montane bats may be facing due to climatic change, particularly in isolated mountain systems like Talamanca Range.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Costa Rica, Golfito, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Gloriana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chaverri
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, University of The Basque Country UPV/EHU, Leioa, The Basque Country.
authors.forename: Inazio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Garin
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, University of The Basque Country UPV/EHU, Leioa, The Basque Country.|Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen K, Denmark.
authors.forename: Antton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberdi
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, University of The Basque Country UPV/EHU, Leioa, The Basque Country.
authors.forename: Lide
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Castillo-Salazar
authors.affiliation: Dpt. Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, University of The Basque Country UPV/EHU, Leioa, The Basque Country.
authors.forename: Joxerra
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aihartza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D044822:Biodiversity; D002489:Central America; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D065928:Forests; D006239:Haplotypes; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV