Molecular phylogeny of New World Myotis (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA genes.

Molecular phylogenetic reconstructions identify East Asia as the cradle for the evolution of the cosmopolitan genus Myotis (Mammalia, Chiroptera)

Sequences of the DNA barcode region of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene were obtained from 3 8 species of northeastern Palaearctic bats to assess patterns of genetic diversity. These results confirmed earlier findings of deep phylogeographic splits in four pairs of vicariant species (Myotis daubentoniilpetax, M. nattererilbombinus, Plecotus aurituslognevi and Miniopterus schreibersiil fuliginosus) and suggested previously unreported splits within Eptesicus nilssoni and Myotis aurascens. DNA barcodes support all taxa raised to species rank in the past 25 years and suggest that an additional species — Myotis sibiricus — should be separated from Myotis brandtii. Major phylogeographic splits occur between European and Asian populations of Myotis aurascens, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Myotis frater; smaller scale splits are observed between insular and mainland populations in the Far East (M. frater, Myotis ikonnikovi and Murina ussuriensis) and also between southeastern Europe and Ciscaucasia (Myotis d...

Genetic Diversity of Northeastern Palaearctic Bats as Revealed by DNA Barcodes

The Daubenton’s bat is widespread and common in the UK and countries bordering the English Channel and North Sea. European bat lyssavirus 2 (EBLV-2), a rabies virus, has been detected in Daubenton’s bats in the UK and continental Europe. Investigating the relatedness of colonies and gene flow between these regions would allow regional estimates of the movement of Daubenton’s bats and thus the potential for disease transmission. The genetic structure of the Daubenton’s bat in western Europe was investigated by analysing variability at eight microsatellite loci. Genetic diversity was found to be high at all sites (H
 E = 0.73–0.84), with little differentiation between bats sampled in the UK and continental Europe. Mantel tests indicated a significant correlation between geographic distance and pair-wise F
 ST (P = 0.000), between colonies sampled in Scotland and northern England. However, this was not continuous throughout the sampled range, with evidence of panmixia within the area sampled in continental Europe. Assignment tests show no evidence that the (potential) EBLV-2 sero-positive and virus positive bats were more likely to have originated from the continental rather than UK populations. There is no sufficient significant genetic differentiation amongst most UK and continental colonies to conclude that EBLV-2 is maintained in the UK by immigration. Results show that it is likely to be maintained at a low endemic level within the UK. The relative genetic uniformity of UK and continental populations implies that there is no migration barrier to EBLV-2, between these regions.

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Population genetic structure of the Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentonii) in western Europe and the associated occurrence of rabies

In taxonomic accounts, three species of Myotis have been traditionally reported to occur on the island of Taiwan: Watase’s bat ( M. formosus watasei Kishida), the Formosan broad-muzzled bat ( M. muricola latirostris Kishida) and the Formosan mouse-eared bat ( M. adversus taiwanensis Linde). The discovery in 1997 of an unknown taxon not fitting to the description of any of these species encouraged us to re-examine more thoroughly the systematics and phylogeny of Myotis bats inhabiting Taiwan. We used a combination of morphologic and molecular methods to aid the identification of the different taxa from this island and reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Multivariate analyses based on 17 craniodental characters of 105 specimens caught across Taiwan and further external characters allowed us to discriminate eight taxa of Myotinae co-occurring on this island. A subset of 80 specimens were further sequenced for the cytochrome b gene (1140 bp) and subjected to phylogenetic reconstructions including representative species from adjacent China and from all main lineages of the worldwide Myotis radiation. These molecular reconstructions showed that the Myotinae from Taiwan are phylogenetically diverse and are issued from several independent clades. The genetic results were completely congruent with the phenetic groupings based on craniodental and external morphology, as each of the eight Taiwanese taxa proved to be reciprocally monophyletic. Two unnamed taxa that did not fit into any of the known species were described as species new to science. Furthermore the taxon latirostris usually associated to the Asian M. muricola , was phylogenetically and morphologically distant from any other known Myotis and was assigned here to the fossil (Miocene) genus Submyotodon . Submyotodon latirostris , M. secundus sp. n. and M. soror sp. n. are endemic species from Taiwan, whereas the other five Myotis are more widespread and also found in the mainland. An identification key is provided to ease the discrimination of these Myotinae species in Taiwan and adjacent China.

/pdf/molecular-phylogeny-and-morphological-revision-of-myotis-397omcwonb.pdf

Molecular phylogeny and morphological revision of Myotis bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Taiwan and adjacent China

A combined approach based on the complex use of molecular, morphological and ecological data has shown that the ‘eastern’ group of forms of transpalearctic Daubenton's bat, Myotis daubentonii (Kuhl, 1817), deserves a status of distinct species, and conforms to M. petax, described by Hollister in 1912 from the Republic of Altai in the south of Western Siberia. In our genetic analysis we used SINEs (short interspersed elements) of nuclear DNA as genetic markers, and by means of Inter-SINE-PCR, have clearly demonstrated a species distinctiveness of M. petax. Our further analysis has also shown, that they considerably differ from M. daubentonii s.str. in skull proportions, dental features, as well as in bacular shape and size. Both species also differ in their ecology and general appearance, especially coloration.

https://bioone.org/journals/acta-chiropterologica/volume-7/issue-1/1733-5329(2005)7[23:ROMPHA]2.0.CO;2/Revalidation-of-Myotis-petax-Hollister-1912-and-its-new-status/10.3161/1733-5329(2005)7[23:ROMPHA]2.0.CO;2.pdf

Revalidation of Myotis petax Hollister, 1912 and its new status in connection with M. daubentonii (Kuhl, 1817) (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera)

A new Myotis species is described from Central Vietnam and adjacent area of Laos. The new species resembles smaller specimens of the widespread South Asian Myotis muricola, though differs from it and from other small mouse-eared bats by a set of cranial and external characters. Genetic analyses confirm that the new species is distinct from the other named forms of Asian Myotis. Comparison of sequence diversity in the DNA barcode region of the COI gene among East Asian members of Myotis, highlighted several taxonomic questions related to Asian ‘whiskered bats’, suggesting that common morphological diagnostic traits may be shared by genetically divergent species.

Sergey V. Kruskop

Papers

Revalidation of Myotis petax Hollister, 1912 and its new status in connection with M. daubentonii (Kuhl, 1817) (Vespertilionidae, Chiroptera)

A New Species of South-East Asian Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae), with Comments on Vietnamese ‘Whiskered Bats’