Origins of Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus, Rhinolophidae) in Southern Africa: Evidence from Allozyme Variability

Morphological analyses indicate that horsehose bats in the genus Rhinolophus constitute a monophyletic group which most likely originated in southeastern Asia but which presently inhabits Oriental, Australian, Palaearctic, and Ethiopian zoogeographical provinces. Ten species occur in southern Africa, but it is uncertain which species represent dispersals from Eurasia through North Africa and which have resulted from speciation in Africa. Analyses of 34 allozyme encoding loci in these 10 species and in 2 southern African species of leafnose bats in the sister genus Hipposideros reveal the presence of at least three lineages of Rhinolophus in southern Africa. One lineage includes R. clivosus, R. darlingi, R. fumigatus, and R. hildebrandtii, all of which, except R. clivosus, are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Rhinolophus blasii is genetically allied with, but distinct from this group, and appears to be a recent migrant from another lineage centered on the Mediterranean. A third lineage, including at least R. capensis, R. denti, R. simulator, and R. swinnyi, is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. The phylogenetic position of R. landeri is uncertain, most likely because of the small sample size used to estimate allelic frequencies for this species. The biochemical genetic definitions of these lineages largely agree with previous morphological analyses of Rhinolophus species. Divergences between species within two lineages (R. clivosus, R. darlingi, R. fumigatus, and R. hildebrandtii; and R. capensis, R. denti, R. simulator, and R. swinnyi) appear to reflect two bursts of speciation in the Plio-Pleistocene period within Africa.