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Ambient temperature correlates with geographic variation in body size of least horseshoe bats.

ABSTRACT: Geographic variation in body size is common within many animal species. The causes of this pattern, however, remain largely unexplored in most vertebrate groups. Bats are widely distributed globally owing to their ability of powered flight. Most bat species encounter a variety of climatic conditions across their distribution range, making them an ideal taxon for the study of ecogeographic patterns in body size. Here, we used adult least horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus pusillus, to test whether geographic variation in body size was determined by heat conservation, heat dissipation, climatic seasonality, or primary productivity. We measured body mass and head-body length for 246 adult bats from 12 allopatric colonies in China. We quantified the ecological conditions inhabited by each colony, including mean maximum temperature of the warmest month, mean minimum temperature of the coldest month, temperature seasonality, precipitation seasonality, and annual net primary productivity (ANPP). Body mass and head-body length, 2 of the most reliable indicators of body size, exhibited marked differences between colonies. After controlling for spatial autocorrelation, the mean minimum temperature of the coldest month explained most of the variation in body size among colonies, regardless of sex. The mean maximum temperature, climatic seasonality, and ANPP had limited power in predicting body size of males or females in comparison with mean minimum temperature. These results support the heat conservation hypothesis and suggest adaptive responses of body size to cold climates in cave-dwelling bats.

SUBMITTER: Wang M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7705506 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ambient temperature correlates with geographic variation in body size of least horseshoe bats.

Wang Man M Chen Kelly K Guo Dongge D Luo Bo B Wang Weiwei W Gao Huimin H Liu Ying Y Feng Jiang J

Current zoology 20200215 5

Geographic variation in body size is common within many animal species. The causes of this pattern, however, remain largely unexplored in most vertebrate groups. Bats are widely distributed globally owing to their ability of powered flight. Most bat species encounter a variety of climatic conditions across their distribution range, making them an ideal taxon for the study of ecogeographic patterns in body size. Here, we used adult least horseshoe bats, <i>Rhinolophus pusillus</i>, to test whethe ...[more]

PMID: 33293926

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Project description:BackgroundThe Old World insectivorous bat genus Rhinolophus is highly speciose. Over the last 15 years, the number of its recognized species has grown from 77 to 106, but knowledge of their interrelationships has not kept pace. Species limits and phylogenetic relationships of this morphologically conservative group remain problematic due both to poor sampling across the Afrotropics and to repeated instances of mitochondrial-nuclear discordance. Recent intensive surveys in East Africa and neighboring regions, coupled with parallel studies by others in West Africa and in Southern Africa, offer a new basis for understanding its evolutionary history.ResultsWe investigated phylogenetic relationships and intraspecific genetic variation in the Afro-Palearctic clade of Rhinolophidae using broad sampling. We sequenced mitochondrial cytochrome-b (1140 bp) and four independent and informative nuclear introns (2611 bp) for 213 individuals and incorporated sequence data from 210 additional individuals on GenBank that together represent 24 of the 33 currently recognized Afrotropical Rhinolophus species. We addressed the widespread occurrence of mito-nuclear discordance in Rhinolophus by inferring concatenated and species tree phylogenies using only the nuclear data. Well resolved mitochondrial, concatenated nuclear, and species trees revealed phylogenetic relationships and population structure of the Afrotropical species and species groups.ConclusionsMultiple well-supported and deeply divergent lineages were resolved in each of the six African Rhinolophus species groups analyzed, suggesting as many as 12 undescribed cryptic species; these include several instances of sympatry among close relatives. Coalescent lineage delimitation offered support for new undescribed lineages in four of the six African groups in this study. On the other hand, two to five currently recognized species may be invalid based on combined mitochondrial and/or nuclear phylogenetic analyses. Validation of these cryptic lineages as species and formal relegation of current names to synonymy will require integrative taxonomic assessments involving morphology, ecology, acoustics, distribution, and behavior. The resulting phylogenetic framework offers a powerful basis for addressing questions regarding their ecology and evolution.

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Ambient temperature correlates with geographic variation in body size of least horseshoe bats.

Publications

Ambient temperature correlates with geographic variation in body size of least horseshoe bats.

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