Phylogenetic relationships among horseshoe bats within the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum group (Mammalia, Chiroptera)

Abstract

The horseshoe bats of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum group form a well‐defined lineage within the Afro‐Palaearctic clade of the genus Rhinolophus. The group currently comprises four species widely distributed across the Palaearctic and Afrotropic regions: R. bocharicus (Central Asia), R. clivosus (from northern Africa and the Levant through Arabian Peninsula and eastern Africa to southern Africa), R. ferrumequinum (from western Europe and northern Africa through the Balkans and Middle East to Central Asia and India) and R. nippon (southern and central China, Korea, and Japan). The broad ranges and geographical variations within these species have led to the proposal of numerous subspecies. The phylogenetic relationships and intraspecific variation of the R. ferrumequinum group were investigated using a genetic approach. One mitochondrial marker and five nuclear markers were sequenced and supplemented with available sequences for all four species of the group. Our study revealed five major lineages within the R. ferrumequinum group, resulting in the recognition of four currently known species and identification of a new species. The prior name available for this lineage/species is R. acrotis. The relationships between the lineages varied depending on the chosen marker, leaving the interspecific relations within the ferrumequinum group unresolved. In addition, the results indicated that R. clivosus experienced historic introgression from northern Africa and the Levant, resulting in replacement of its mtDNA by that of R. ferrumequinum. Together, this study introduces a new Rhinolophus species, which increases the number of species in the ferrumequinum group to five.

Southern Africa's Great Escarpment as an amphitheater of climate‐driven diversification and a buffer against future climate change in bats

“…Many new and often cryptic species of Afromontane small mammals have been described in the last three decades (Benda et al, 2024;Curran et al, 2022;Lavrenchenko et al, 2016;Monadjem et al, 2013Monadjem et al, , 2021Taylor, Denys, & Cotterill, 2019;Taylor, Kearney, et al, 2019;Uvizl et al, 2024;Voelker et al, 2021). Our analysis identified at least four cryptic species that probably merit formal taxonomic recognition (denoted as "c.f."…”

“…A total of 821 occurrence records from 13 of our 14 study taxa (with n > 5 occurrence records: two of Cistugo, two of Laephotis, and nine of Rhinolophus) were obtained from Monadjem et al (2020), supplemented with recent records obtained by AM (unpublished data) and from this study for R. cervenyi. The taxonomy followed Monadjem et al (2020), as updated by Benda et al (2024), Uvizl et al (2024) and the results of this study. A total of 19 bioclimatic (Bioclim) variables (downloaded from Worldclim v. 2; Fick & Hijmans, 2017; https:// www.…”

“…Due to the scarcity of nuclear (nuc) DNA sequences for our study taxa and region, our phylogeographic study was based on mitochondrial (mt) DNA (cyt-b) sequences. Recent studies in African horseshoe bats have shown that the two approaches are complementary, with mtDNA being faster coalescing, revealing finer-scale intraspecific phylogeographic patterns, and nucDNA being more reliable for species and higher taxa recognition (Benda et al, 2024;Demos et al, 2019;Uvizl et al, 2024).…”

“…Horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus) are a diverse group of >100 species, including a growing number of newly discovered cryptic species (Benda & Vallo, 2012;Benda et al, 2024;Curran et al, 2022;Dool et al, 2016, Demos et al, 2019Monadjem et al, 2020;Taylor et al, 2012Taylor et al, , 2018Uvizl et al, 2024). Six Afrotropical groups are recognized, capensis, darlingi, ferrumequinum, fumigatus, landeri, and maclaudi, of which all but maclaudi are found in southern Africa (Csorba et al, 2003;Hutson et al, 2019).…”