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.

Hipposideros is the most speciose hipposiderid genus, accounting for 67 of the 82 recognized species (Simmons 2005) , a number that is increasing due to the description of new cryptic species (e.g., . However, the monophyly of this genus is questioned. Morphological studies, which include up to eight of the nine Hipposideridae genera, have suggested that Hipposideros is paraphyletic (Sig e 1968; Legendre 1982; Bogdanowicz and Owen 1998) . However, a recent molecular phylogenetic study, which included four of the nine Hipposideridae genera, based on a single mitochondrial and nuclear genes supported the monophyly of the genus (Murray et al. 2012) (fig. 1) . Rhinolophus is the sole genus of the family Rhinolophidae and is composed of 77 recognized species falling into 12 species groups (Simmons 2005) . The clade that is most basal within extant Rhinolophidae is still controversial. Previous phylogenetic reconstructions of the Rhinolophidae are characterized by poor resolution at deeper nodes suggesting a rapid radiation in this family (Guillen-Servent et al. 2003 ). Based on a Cyt b tree, Guillen-Servent et al. (2003) recovered a basal clade containing the Rhinolophus trifoliatus and the R. hipposideros species groups. However, based on a combined data set of Cyt b and nuclear introns, Stoffberg et al. (2010) reported a single species, R. pearsoni, as the basal lineage with all other species (including R. hipposideros) forming two geographic clades, which are predominantly Oriental or Afrotropical. Nevertheless, Stoffberg et al. (2010) did not include members of the R. trifoliatus clade.