Speciation within bonneted bats (genus Eumops): The complexity of morphological, mitochondrial, and nuclear datasets in systematics

Abstract

We phylogenetically analyze cytochrome-b gene sequences and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs) from populations of the karyotypically variable Wagner’s bonneted bat, Eumops glaucinus, and the Florida bonneted bat, Eumops floridanus (Chiroptera: Molossidae). Three karyotypes have been documented previously across the range of E. glaucinus, and we report that the karyotype from Cuba is morphologically similar to that found in specimens from Jamaica. A 4th karyotype (described herein) is present in specimens from western Ecuador. DNA sequence variation within 705 base pairs of the cytochrome-b gene from 47 specimens from Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Paraguay were examined and analyzed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Additionally, 351 AFLP bands from 23 specimens were phylogenetically analyzed. Three distinct lineages are present in both the cytochrome-b and AFLP trees. One clade is restricted to western Ecuador and has a 7-8% cytochrome b sequence divergence from all other haplotypes of the species complex. The other 2 lineages have cytochrome-b divergences > 3–4% and are distributed in disjunct areas: 1) Paraguay and Venezuela; and 2) Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States. The cytochrome b divergence between populations of E. glaucinus west of the Andes and all other populations of E. glaucinus is comparable to that between recognized species of Eumops, suggesting that the Ecuadorian bonneted bats represent a distinct species. Specimens of E. floridanus are morphologically distinct from E. glaucinus, but cannot be distinguished by cytochrome-b or AFLP DNA data. We conclude that there are 4 species in the Eumops glaucinus complex—Eumops glaucinus (in South America east of the Andes), E. ferox (in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America), E. floridanus in south Florida, and an unnamed taxon in western Ecuador. Speciation is a complex process and no single mechanism, model, concept, or definition is likely to cover all the diverse patterns observed.