Phylogeography of African fruitbats (Megachiroptera)

Joint sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes of a wide representation of Megachiroptera were employed to evaluate the tradit ional taxonomic arrangement of African fruitbats and to examine their origi ns and evolutionary relationships. The resulting phylogenetic hypotheses ar e inconsistent with the previously established morphology-based subdivision s of Megachiroptera at the suprageneric level. Findings indicate the existe nce of an African clade, which appears to be formed by two endemic clades: the epomophorines and the myonycterines. According to our topologies, the g enus Rousettus is monospecific in mainland Africa. Its traditional subgener a Stenonycteris and Lissonycteris appear closer to the myonycterines than t o Rousettus. Topologies also indicate that the African genus Eidolon is not phylogenetically related to any other African fruitbat. It would seem that the arrival of fruitbats in Africa was a complex process involving at leas t three independent colonization events. One event took place probably in t he Miocene via forested corridors that connected. the African and Asian rai n forest blocks, as for other groups of mammals. The resulting lineage dive rsified into most of the extant African fruitbats. Related to this clade, t he Rousettus species group is thought to have arrived in Africa in more rec ent times, possibly by progressive displacement from the East through India . Finally, the present topologies suggest an independent colonization of Af rica by ancestors of Eidolon. (C) 1999 Academic Press.