Timing the evolutionary history of tent-making bats, genus Uroderma (Phyllostomidae): A biogeographic context

Abstract

Geological events, such as the rising of the Andes and the completion of the Isthmus of Panama (linking North and South America) have induced the end or the beginning of geographical barriers, as well as the establishment of environmental conditions that can limit or extend species’ distribution. These events seem to be related with the diversification of the tent-making bats, genus Uroderma (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). In the present study, different methodological approaches were applied to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Uroderma, through the estimation of a diversification time-frame, dispersal routes, and to determine the origin of its hybrid zone in Central America. We analyzed sequences from the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome b (Cyt-b). Phylogenetic relationships between species were estimated using maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference approaches, we reconstructed the biogeographic history of the genus, divergence times for the splitting events were determined, and demographic history of species involved in the hybrid zone (U. convexum and U. davisi) was estimated. The Central Andes was identified as a center of diversification for Uroderma during the Late Miocene (5.8–3.7 Mya), and Central America for the most recent common ancestor of U. convexum and U. bakeri + U. davisi, which migrated though a stepping stone model before the completion of the Isthmus of Panama (3.8 Mya; 95%, Higuest Posterior Distribution [HPD] 4.6–2.9 Mya); Central America was recovered as the distribution of MRCA of U. bakeri and U. davisi, and its split dated to the late Pliocene - Quaternary (2.8 Mya, 4–1.4 Mya). The diversification of Uroderma is a series of recent events that involved dispersal episodes across extreme barriers (Panama Canal and the highlands of the northern Andes), with potential for population expansion and retreats, explaining the current distribution of the species.