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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Genetic and phenotypic differences between south African long-fingered bats, with a global miniopterine phylogeny
Journal of Mammalogy, Volume 86, No. 6, Year 2005
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Description
The Natal long-fingered bat (Miniopterus natalensis) and lesser long-fingered bat (M. fraterculus) are morphologically almost indistinguishable and occur sympatrically over much of their southern African range. This raises the possibility that they are sister taxa. We employed a multidisciplinary approach to examine their taxonomic relationship to one another and to other Miniopterus species, whose global phylogeny requires review. We examined echolocation, morphological, and dietary differences between M. natalensis and M. fraterculus, as well as both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variation between them in the context of a phylogeny incorporating 13 Miniopterus species and subspecies. Despite similarities in their morphology and distribution, M. natalensis and M. fraterculus echolocate at peak frequencies separated by 12 kHz, and both nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers confirm they are distinct species. Analysis of cytochrome-b (Cytb) sequences further indicates that M. fraterculus and M. natalensis are not sister taxa; M. fraterculus appears to be more closely related to the greater long-fingered bat (M. inflatus). Examination of the global taxonomy of Miniopterus confirms that Schreibers's long-fingered bat (M. schreibersii) forms a paraphyletic species complex. Furthermore, the miniopterine bats are divided into 2 geographically isolated monophyletic groups, one containing African and European species, and the other taxa from Australasia and Asia. Cytb sequence divergence also suggests that M. natalensis is distinct from the European M. schreibersii. These results support the elevation of M. natalensis to full species rank. © 2005 American Society of Mammalogists.
Authors & Co-Authors
Miller-Butterworth, C. M.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
United States, Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
Eick, Geeta N.
South Africa, Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University
United States, New Haven
Yale School of Medicine
Jacobs, David Steve
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Schoeman, M. Corrie
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Harley, Eric H.
South Africa, Cape Town
Faculty of Health Sciences
Statistics
Citations: 72
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1644/05-MAMM-A-021R1.1
ISSN:
00222372
Research Areas
Cancer
Genetics And Genomics