Environmental margin and island evolution in Middle Eastern populations of the Egyptian fruit bat
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Molecular Ecology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.12078 |
| Field | Zoology |
| Keywords | island speciation Mediterranean Cyprus mitochondrial DNA microsatellites Egyptian fruit bat |
| Description | Here, we present a study of the population genetic architecture of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) at the environmental margins in the Middle East. We obtained multi-locus data, including the sequences of a mitochondrial control region and 20 nuclear microsatellites from population samples comprising 553 individuals from 70 localities. In contrast to the rather homogenous population structure typical of cave-dwelling bats with continuous distributions in climax tropical ecosystems, a relatively pronounced isolation by distance and population diversification was observed. Evolution of this pattern could be ascribed to the complicated demographic history at the higher latitudes as well as to the range margin fragmentation and complex geomorphology of the studied area. Bats of the East African lineage exhibit a separation from the Middle Eastern region of the range. The latter unit is composed of domains comprising the Egyptian colonies, the Arabian Peninsula and the adjacent regions, the Levant and Cyprus. The landscape genetics approach revealed a semipermeability of the desert barriers in the Sahara and Arabian Peninsula and a corridor role of the Nile Valley. The marked differentiation of the Cypriot demes highlights the role of the island environment in restricting the gene flow in megabats, which is also corroborated by biogeographic patterns within the family, and suggests the possibility of nascent island speciation. Demographic analyses suggest that colonization of the Mediterranean basin was connected to the spread of agricultural plants, and thus, the peripatric processes described above might be due to or strenghtened by anthropogenic changes in the environment. |
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