MIGRATION AND EVOLUTION OF LESSER LONG-NOSED BATS LEPTONYCTERIS-CURASOAE, INFERRED FROM MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA

We used sequence variation within 297 bp of control region mitochondri al DNA (mtDNA) amplified from 53 lesser long-nosed bats, Leptonycteris curasoae (Phyllostomidae: Glossophaginae) captured at 13 locations in south-western United States and Mexico and one site in Venezuela to i nfer population structure and possible migration routes of this endang ered nectar- and fruit-eating species. Phylogenetic analysis using max imum parsimony and UPGMA confirmed species and subspecies distinctions within Leptonycteris and revealed two clades exhibiting 3% sequence d ivergence within the Mexican subspecies, L. c. yerbabuenae. Even thoug h many roosts contained L. c. yerbabuenae from both clades, weak popul ation structure was detected both by a correlation between genetic dif ferentiation, F-st, and geographical distance and by a cladistic estim ate of the number of migration events required to align bat sequences with geographical location on maximum parsimony, as compared to random , trees. Three results suggest that L. c. yerbabuenae are more likely to migrate between sites along the Pacific coast of Mexico or along th e foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental than between these regions. (1) Seventeen of 20 bats which shared an identical sequence were capt ured up to 1800 km apart but within the same putative migration corrid or. (2) Residuals from a regression of F-st on distance were greater b etween than within these regions. (3) Fewer migration events were requ ired to align bats with these two groups than expected from random ass ignment. We recommend analysing independent genetic data and monitorin g bat visitation to roost sites during migration to confirm these post ulated movements.