Cryptic diversity in Ghanaian leaf-nosed bats of the Hipposideros caffer complex

0454430 - ÚBO 2016 CZ eng A - Abstract
Vallo, Peter - Baldwin, H. J. - Benda, P. - Drosten, C. - Oppong, S. K. - Stow, A. J. - Tschapka, M.
Cryptic diversity in Ghanaian leaf-nosed bats of the Hipposideros caffer complex.
Zoologické dny Brno 2015: sborník abstraktů z konference 12.-13. února 2015. Brno: Ústav biologie obratlovců AV ČR, 2015 - (Bryja, J.; Řehák, Z.; Zukal, J.). s. 250. ISBN 978-80-87189-18-4.
[Zoologické dny. 12.02.2015-13.02.2015, Brno]
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : Ghanaian leaf-nosed bats
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology

Sundevall's leaf-nosed bat, Hipposideros caffer (Sundevall, 1846), is a rather poorly understood cryptic taxon, widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa and belonging to the most abundant mammals on the continent. Traditionally, Noack’s leaf-nosed bat Hipposideros ruber (Noack, 1893) has been recognized as the other cryptic species within the complex. Recent data further showed that H. tephrus Cabrera, 1906, a sister lineage to Southern African H. caffer s.str., can be regarded as a distinct West African species. In a pilot phase, 94 individuals of the H. caffer complex were sequenced on a 782 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, resulting in 26 haplotypes. All four main phylogenetic lineages known to occur in West Africa were present, suggesting existence of four cryptic species in Ghana. Three of them, conforming to H. ruber by size, occur in sympatry in central Ghana. The fourth one, a savannah
form H. tephrus, was found in northern Ghana and, interestingly, also in the wet forest zone of the west coastal region. Of the H. ruber lineages, one remained exclusively West African, while the other two extended far into Central Africa. Genetic structure of Ghanaian populations of H. caffer complex was further investigated using a panel of ten microsatellites. Two separate groups of individuals could be linked to H. tephrus and the exclusively West African H. ruber
lineages, respectively. Another, more variable group contained individuals of the other two H. ruber lineages, with so far unclear division between them. Cryptic diversity in the H. caffer complex in West Africa obviously covers three distinct, non-interbreeding evolutionary units, one of which still remains to be analyzed in more detail to find presumed species differences between the other H. ruber lineages contained therein. Morphometric data support the described genetic distinction within the H. caffer complex and enhance its more definite taxonomic
resolution.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0255106