Journal of Mammalogy

Published by: American Society of Mammalogists

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Journal of Mammalogy 87(1):161-170. 2006
doi: 10.1644/04-MAMM-A-132R2.1

CRYPTIC SPECIES IN AN INSECTIVOROUS BAT, SCOTOPHILUS DINGANII

David S. Jacobs*a, Geeta N. Eickb, M. Corrie Schoemana, and Conrad A. Mattheeb

aSmall Mammal Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa (DSJ, MCS)

bEvolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa (GNE, CAM)

*Correspondent:

Abstract

In recent years many cryptic bat species have been unmasked by differences in their echolocation calls. The yellow house bat (Scotophilus dinganii) is 1 of 3 species of Scotophilus currently described in southern Africa and is distinguished from the other 2 species by its size and yellow venter. Here we use genetic, morphological, and echolocation call data to show the existence of a cryptic species. We found that S. dinganii consists of 2 forms, one that uses a peak echolocation frequency of 44 kHz and the other a peak frequency of 33 kHz. Both forms have yellow venters. The 44-kHz phonic type is up to 15% smaller than the 33-kHz phonic type and differed genetically by an average cytochrome-b (Cytb) sequence divergence of 3.3%. Furthermore, combined phylogenetic analyses of Cytb and control region sequences indicate that the 2 phonic types are reciprocally monophyletic, suggesting that they are sibling species.

submittedOctober 10, 2004; Accepted: May 24, 2005

Keywords: bats, cryptic species, echolocation, mitochondrial DNA, morphology, Scotophilus dinganii, Scotophilus viridis



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Fig. 1.—Strict consensus of 384 equally parsimonious trees recovered from analysis of combined cytochrome-b and control region sequence data for Scotophilus dinganii and S. viridis (tree length = 194, consistency index = 0.69, retention index = 0.94). Maximum-parsimony (MP) and maximum-likelihood (ML) bootstrap values > 50% are indicated above nodes; Bayesian posterior probability (BPP) values > 0.50 are indicated below nodes. SLWP = St. Lucia Wetland Park, KZF = Kranzkloof Nature Reserve, GAU = Gauteng, KNP = Kruger National Park, LUS = Lusaka, CHM = Choma, KIT = Kitwe, FA = forearm, PF = peak frequency. Specimens for which hand-released echolocation calls were recorded are indicated by a single asterisk; specimens for which only flight room calls were recorded are indicated by a double asterisk

Fig. 2.—Plot of canonical scores from forward stepwise discriminant function analysis on skull parameters of Scotophilus species (Appendix II). Squares = S. dinganii–33 kHz, triangles = S. dinganii–44 kHz, and circles = S. viridis. Open symbols indicate specimens classified by DNA sequences

Fig. 3.—Plot of canonical scores from forward stepwise discriminant function analysis on external morphological parameters for Scotophilus species. Open symbols are S. dinganii–44 kHz and solid symbols are S. dinganii–33 kHz. Locations: for 44-kHz form—open circles, Zambia; open squares, St. Lucia Wetland Park; for 33-kHz form—solid circles, Kruger National Park; solid triangles, St. Lucia Wetland Park; solid diamonds, Zambia

table

Table 1.—Results of discriminant function analysis (DFA) on skull parameters. Only the results of those parameters that contributed significantly to the DFA model are shown

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Table 2.—Morphological parameters for Scotophilus dinganii–44 kHz (small) and S. dinganii–33 kHz (large)

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Table 3.—The results of discriminant function analysis on 5 external morphological parameters

table

Appendix I Captured bats and museum specimens used in genetic and phenotypic analyses. Specimens for which vouchers were taken are indicated by the prefix TM (lodged in the Northern Flagship Institution). The code used in analyses is the code we assigned each specimen to make identification of the locality from which the specimens were collected easier (see the key to abbreviations in the footnotea)

table

Appendix 1.—Continued

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Appendix 1.—Continued

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Appendix II Skull measurements (in mm) and scores on identification model of Schlitter et al. (1980) of 3 groups of Scotophilus. Unless otherwise indicated all measurements were taken as described by Freeman (1981) or Jacobs (1996)

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