Geographic variation of wing morphology of great fruit-eating bats (Artibeus lituratus): environmental, genetic and spatial correlates of phenotypic differences

Abstract

Responses of species to environmental gradients are important and frequent determinants of geographic phenotypic variation that can drive adaptive processes. Nonetheless, random genetic processes such as drift can also result in geographic variation in phenotypes, and should be evaluated before implicating selection as the process driving phenotypic change. We examined geographic variation in wing morphology of Artibeus lituratus among 18 different sites distributed across interior Atlantic Forest of Paraguay and Argentina. Moreover, we contrasted geographic variation with environmental, spatial, and genetic variation to test hypotheses related to selection and drift and their impacts on wing morphology. For A. lituratus distributed across interior Atlantic Forest, significant differences among sites characterized variation in wing morphology. Geographic variation was significantly related to climatic variables but not spatial or genetic distances. Such a pattern suggests that phenotypic variation is related to selection for particular environmental regimes, and not genetic drift. Four significant dimensions of phenotypic variation were determined. Three dimensions were related to variation among individuals in terms of wing tips, whereas one was related to overall body size. Wing tips are important for manoeuverability during flight and differences among sites likely reflect differences in forest and vegetation structure that must be managed during foraging. Although climate provides good surrogates for environmental variation, it is probably only an indirect cue of selection regimes that determine variation in wing morphology. Future studies should evaluate more direct environmental measures such as vegetation structure when attempting to interpret geographical variation in wing morphology.

Evolutionary insights intoRhinolophus episcopus(Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) in China: Isolation by distance, environment, or sensory system?

“…Bioclimatic factors are good surrogates for environmental variables and have broad applications, but they only provide indirect insight into adaptive selection (Kelly, Friedman, & Santana, 2018;Stevens, Johnson, & McCulloch, 2016). Alternatively, physical barriers, such as mountains and rivers, were previously reported to have played important roles in bat adaptive evolution (Flanders, Wei, Rossiter, & Zhang, 2011;Kuo, Chen, Fang, Flanders, & Rossiter, 2014 & Ruedi, 2011).…”

MEJOR CONDICIÓN CORPORAL DE Artibeus lituratus EN FRAGMENTOS DE BOSQUE SECO ASOCIADOS A SISTEMAS SILVOPASTORILES QUE EN SISTEMAS CONVENCIONALES DE GANADERÍA EN CÓRDOBA, COLOMBIA

“…Los resultados muestran, al igual que lo reportado por Marchán-Rivadeneira et al (2012), la hipótesis que el filtrado ambiental puede explicar en parte las diferencias morfológicas de las especies, encontrándose que cambios en las condiciones ambientales (estacionalidad climática) juegan un papel en la determinación de la distribución geográfica de las variantes morfológicas de A. lituratus. Del mismo modo, se sugiere que la variación geográfica en la morfología alar de A. lituratus está relacionada significativamente con las variables climáticas, pero no con las distancias genéticas y espaciales, sugiriendo entonces que, la variación fenotípica no está relacionada con la deriva genética, pero si con la selección por regímenes ambientales particulares (Stevens et al 2016), como se reporta en este trabajo en relación con las condiciones de manejo de los sistemas de ganadería asociados a fragmentos de bosque seco tropical.…”

“…Los murciélagos son conocidos debido a que responden a las modificaciones ecológicas, a través de cambios en la composición taxonómica como en la repartición de especies en gremios alimenticios (Willig et al 2007, Jiménez-Ortega & Mantilla-Meluk 2008, Klingbeil & Willig 2009), y en los mecanismos morfológicos relacionados con las características propias de cada hábitat (Moreno et al 2006, Arias 2008. Diferencias en los parámetros morfológicos explican diversos niveles de flexibilidad conductual Stevens et al 2016, Oliveira et al 2017, Medeiros et al 2018, donde se supone que los animales que están en mejores condiciones son más exitosos (McGuire et al 2018). A pesar de esto, en sistemas agropecuarios no se ha evaluado el efecto de los sistemas de ganadería sobre la condición corporal de los murciélagos.…”

An annotated checklist of the mammals of Paraguay

“…Recent non-taxonomic bat research in Paraguay has focused mainly on community ecology (Stevens et al 2004;Gorresen et al 2005 (Stevens 2001;McCulloch and Stevens 2011;McCulloch et al 2013;Stevens et al 2016).…”