Was the Balkan peninsula a glacial refugium for the Mediterranean horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus euryale (Blasius, 1853)

Abstract

Large Mediterranean peninsulas of Europe like the Balkans, Italian and the Iberian Peninsula have been recognized as Pleistocene glacial refugia for many temperate species. The aim of this study was to investgate demographic history and genetc structure of Mediterranean horseshoe bat populatons on the Balkan Peninsula. R. euryale is a cave-dwelling species distributed throughout the Mediterranean region. We collected 82 samples from 20 localites in the Balkans and Italian Peninsula and analysed genetc diversity of mitochondrial D-loop sequences. Our results revealed low nucleotde but high haplotype diversity, and 20 haplotypes were reported for the frst tme. Phylogenetc reconstructons showed that all haplotypes obtained from both Peninsulas belong to the same lineage together with the previously published samples from Turkey, southern France and North Africa. All haplotypes from the current study represent single haplogroup and haplotype network had a star-like topology that is indicatve of recent populaton expansion. Scenario of sudden demographic expansion was also supported by shallow genetc differentaton and mismatch distributon analysis, and we estmate that expansion within this lineage started afer the last glacial maximum. We present the new data on genetc variaton in this species, and highlight the importance of the Balkans in the demographic history of Mediterranean horseshoe bat. The obtained results support the hypothesis that the Balkan Peninsula was a glacial refugium for R. euryale during the Pleistocene.