Article
Four new bat species (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii complex) reflect Plio-Pleistocene divergence of dwarfs and giants across an Afromontane archipelago.
PloS one - 1 Jan 2012
Taylor Peter J, Stoffberg Samantha, Monadjem Ara, Schoeman Martinus Corrie, Bayliss Julian, Cotterill Fenton P D
Abstract excerpt
Gigantism and dwarfism evolve in vertebrates restricted to islands. We describe four new species in the Rhinolophus hildebrandtii species-complex of horseshoe bats, whose evolution has entailed adaptive shifts in body size. We postulate that vicissitudes of palaeoenvironments resulted in gigantism and dwarfism in habitat islands fragmented across eastern and southern Africa. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA...
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