How and Why Overcome the Impediments to Resolution: Lessons from rhinolophid and hipposiderid Bats

Foley, Nicole M.; Thong, Vu Dinh; Soisook, Pipat; Goodman, Steven M.; Armstrong, Kyle N.; Jacobs, David S.; Puechmaille, Sébastien J.; Teeling, Emma C.

The nuclear phylogeny ( fig. 2 ) revealed strong similarities in tree shape and branching pattern between the Rhinolophus and Hipposideros genera despite considerable phylogenetic distance between the two groups. Molecular clock analysis ( fig. 4 ) revealed that the divergence time estimates for these two genera are concurrent, occurring between 15 and 17 Ma. This indicated that these genera underwent a largely concurrent, rapid diversification during the Miocene, coinciding with the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum, which was a warm and humid period in Earth's history, which peaked roughly 15-18 Ma . This period may have represented optimal conditions for the evolution and rapid diversification of these lineages in response to more favorable climatic conditions. The analyses showed that the rate of diversification of Rhinolophus and Hipposideros is very similar for both molecular markers ( fig. 5) . However, although Cox1 and Cyt b support very similar rates of diversification, they are both fragments of the mitochondrial genome, and it is yet to be verified if these diversification rates would remain consistent across a wider diversity of nuclear markers.