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The article discusses a study which investigated the mitochondrial genetic differentiation of the greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum in southeastern Europe and Anatolia. The geographic distribution patterns of the genetic diversity in Europe was brought about by population differentiation during the ice ages. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA showed a suture zone in central Anatolia that is similar to those recorded in other animal species. In addition, the time of the split of the lineages which diverged in allopatry was dated to the Pleistocene.

Background: Various mechanisms such as geographic barriers and glacial episodes have been proposed as determinants of intra-specific and inter-specific differentiation of populations, and the distribution of their genetic diversity. More recently, habitat and climate differences, and corresponding adaptations have been shown to be forces influencing the phylogeographic evolution of some vertebrates. In this study, we examined the contribution of these various factors on the genetic differentiation of the bent-winged bat, Miniopterus schreibersii, in southeastern Europe and Anatolia. Results and conclusion: Our results showed differentiation in mitochondrial DNA coupled with weaker nuclear differentiation. We found evidence for restriction of lineages to geographical areas for hundreds of generations. The results showed that the most likely ancestral haplotype was restricted to the same geographic area (the Balkans) for at least 6,000 years. We were able to delineate the migration routes during the population expansion process, which followed the coasts and the inland for different nested mitochondrial clades. Hence, we were able to describe a scenario showing how multiple biotic and abiotic events including glacial periods, climate and historical dispersal patterns complemented each other in causing regional and local differentiation within a species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Hylobatidae (gibbons) are among the most endangered primates and their evolutionary history and systematics remain largely unresolved. We have investigated the species-level phylogenetic relationships among hylobatids using 1257 bases representing all species and an expanded data set of up to 2243 bases for select species from the mitochondrial ND3–ND4 region. Sequences were obtained from 34 individuals originating from all 12 recognized extant gibbon species. These data strongly support each of the four previously recognized clades or genera of gibbons, Nomascus, Bunopithecus, Symphalangus, and Hylobates, as monophyletic groups. Among these clades, there is some support for either Bunopithecus or Nomascus as the most basal, while in all analyses Hylobates appears to be the most recently derived. Within Nomascus, Nomascus sp. cf. nasutus is the most basal, followed by N. concolor, and then a clade of N. leucogenys and N. gabriellae. Within Hylobates, H. pileatus is the most basal, while H. moloch and H. klossii clearly, and H. agilis and H. muelleri likely form two more derived monophyletic clades. The segregation of H. klossii from other Hylobates species is not supported by this study. The present data are (1) consistent with the division of Hylobatidae into four distinct clades, (2) provide the first genetic evidence for all the species relationships within Nomascus, and (3) call for a revision of the current relationships among the species within Hylobates. We propose a phylogenetic tree as a working hypothesis against which intergeneric and interspecific relationships can be tested with additional genetic, morphological, and behavioral data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We sequenced the 12S rRNA gene of 2 elusive and morphologically plesiomorphic species of phalanger: the small Sulawesi cuscus (Strigocuscus celebensis--Gray, 1858) and the Sulawesi bear cuscus (Ailurops ursinus--Temminck, 1824). The sequences were integrated with previously existing data on the same gene in other species of phalangerids, as well as newly derived data from Wyulda Alexander, 1918. In contrast to current wisdom, we resolve S. celebensis not as a member of the tribe Trichosurini, but rather as a taxon sister to Ailurops in a reconstituted Ailuropinae in turn successively sister to Phalangerinae. Examination of our data supports an evolutionary origin for the family approximately 34 million years ago (mya), in the northwestern region of the Sahul Shelf, the continental mass underlying Australia and New Guinea. The radiation of the most plesiomorphic genera in the family, Trichosurus and Wyulda, is restricted to that region. S. celebensis, resolved as sister to A. ursinus in a clade ingroup in trichosurines, diverged from remaining ingroup lineages between 21.1 and 23.3 mya, a time when Sulawesi was available for colonization and sea currents would have enhanced the colonization potential from the east of Sulawesi and neighboring islands. We recommend Trichosurinae as a subfamilial level entity on par with Ailuropinae and Phalangerinae, circumscription of Trichosurinae to Trichosurus and Wyulda, and removal of Strigocuscus into Ailuropinae, leaving only Phalanger and Spilocuscus in Phalangerinae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The arboreal mice of the genus Habromys (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Neotominae) are among the most poorly known Neotropical rodents. We investigated species-level phylogenetic relationships among the seven described Habromys species using 1331 aligned bases from the mitochondrial ND3 and ND4 regions. Sequences were obtained from 30 specimens of the seven known species of Habromys and we performed maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian probabilities analyses. The monophyly of the genus Habromys within the Neotomines was verified. The northernmost H. simulatus is sister to the remaining species of the group; within the latter, the southernmost clade (Oaxaca to Central America) is sister to the Transmexican Volcanic Belt clade. Four major clades are clearly distinguished: H. simulatus from the Sierra Madre Oriental and the closely associated Sierra Mazateca; H. delicatulus and H. schmidlyi from the Transmexican Volcanic Belt; H. lepturus, H. chinanteco, and H. ixtlani from the northern Oaxacan highlands; and H. lophurus from Nuclear Central America. Within species, the analyses suggest that H. simulatus and H. lophurus are each composed by two different taxa. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]