title: The complex evolutionary history of big-eared horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus macrotis complex): insights from genetic, morphological and acoustic data.
abstract: Palaeoclimatic oscillations and different landscapes frequently result in complex population-level structure or the evolution of cryptic species. Elucidating the potential mechanisms is vital to understanding speciation events. However, such complex evolutionary patterns have rarely been reported in bats. In China, the Rhinolophus macrotis complex contains a large form and a small form, suggesting the existence of a cryptic bat species. Our field surveys found these two sibling species have a continuous and widespread distribution with partial sympatry. However, their evolutionary history has received little attention. Here, we used extensive sampling, morphological and acoustic data, as well as different genetic markers to investigate their evolutionary history. Genetic analyses revealed discordance between the mitochondrial and nuclear data. Mitochondrial data identified three reciprocally monophyletic lineages: one representing all small forms from Southwest China, and the other two containing all large forms from Central and Southeast China, respectively. The large form showed paraphyly with respect to the small form. However, clustering analyses of microsatellite and Chd1 gene sequences support two divergent clusters separating the large form and the small form. Moreover, morphological and acoustic analyses were consistent with nuclear data. This unusual pattern in the R. macrotis complex might be accounted for by palaeoclimatic oscillations, shared ancestral polymorphism and/or interspecific hybridization.
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Keping
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rebecca T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Kimball
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Xuewen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Longru
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Tinglei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Aiqing
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial