Molecular phylogeography and species distribution modelling (SDM) suggest that late Quaternary glacial cycles have portrayed a significant role in structuring current population genetic structure and diversity. Based on phylogenetic relationships using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood of 535 bp mtDNA (D-loop) and 745 bp mtDNA (Cytb) in 62 individuals of the Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat, Rhinolophus euryale, from 13 different localities in Iran we identified two subspecific populations with differing population genetic structure distributed in southern Zagros Mts. and northern Elburz Mts. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) obtained from D-loop sequences indicates that 21.18% of sequence variation is distributed among populations and 10.84% within them. Moreover, a degree of genetic subdivision, mainly attributable to the existence of significant variance among the two regions is shown (θCT = 0.68, p = .005). The positive and significant correlation between geographic and genetic distances (R = 0.28, r = 0.529, p = .000) is obtained following controlling for environmental distance. Spatial distribution of haplotypes indicates that marginal population of the species in southern part of the species range have occupied this section as a glacial refugia. However, this genetic variation, in conjunction with results of the SDM shows a massive postglacial range expansion for R. euryale towards higher latitudes in Iran.
We quantified postnatal changes in body mass, length of forearm, length of total gap of the fourth metacarpal-phalangeal joint and changes in wing morphology, including the wingspan, wing area, handwing length, handwing area, armwing length, armwing area, aspect ratio and wing loading in Rhinolophus euryale in a maternity roost in Kerend cave, western Iran. Mean body mass of pups increased linearly until 23 days, when they achieved 74.29% of the mean mass of adult females (11.28±0.74 g, n=12). Rates of body mass gain and forearm growth during the early stage of postnatal growth were 0.36 g/day and 1.41 mm/day, respectively. Length of epiphyseal gap increased during the first 3 weeks and subsequently followed by a linear decrease until day 70 when it closed. Wing characteristics increased linearly until the age of the first flight, after which growth rates significantly declined (all p<0.05). Wing loading decreased linearly (−0.09 Nm−2/day) until 36 days of age and thereafter increased to a maximum of 6.56±0.30 Nm−2 at 80 days of age. We compare our results with data obtained from close-related bat species, particularly Rhinolophus mehelyi previously studied in a nearby area.
The connectivity of groundwater aquifers is lower compared to surface waters. Consequently, groundwater species are expected to have smaller distributional ranges than their surface relatives. Molecular taxonomy, however, unveiled that many species comprise complexes of morphologically cryptic species, with geographically restricted distributional ranges in subterranean as well as in surface waters. Hence, the range sizes of surface and groundwater species might be more similar in size than hitherto thought. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the range size of surface amphipods of the genus Gammarus and subterranean amphipods of the genus Niphargus in Iran. We re-analyzed the taxonomic structure of both genera using two unilocus species delimitation methods applied to a fragment of the COI mitochondrial marker, to identify molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), and assessed the maximum linear extent (MLE) of the ranges of MOTUs from both genera. Genus Gammarus comprised 44–58 MOTUs while genus Niphargus comprised 20–22 MOTUs. The MLEs of the two genera were not significantly different, regardless the delimitation method applied. The results remained unchanged also after exclusion of single site MOTUs. We tentatively conclude that in this case there is no evidence to consider that groundwater species are geographically more restricted than surface species.
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