Wither the subspecies? An ecological perspective on taxonomic, environmental and sexual determinants of phenotypic variation in big-eared woolly bats, Chrotopterus auritus
Wither the subspecies? An ecological perspective on taxonomic, environmental and sexual determinants of phenotypic variation in big-eared woolly bats, Chrotopterus auritus
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DOI：
10.1093/biolinnean/blad006
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发表时间：
2023-06
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
R. Stevens
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
R. Stevens
当标本很少且分布不均匀时，反映地理倾向的连续表型变异很难与亚种间的不连续性区分开来。尽管如此，近几十年来博物馆藏品的增加有助于我们解决许多物种更精细的表型梯度的能力。虽然大耳毛蝙蝠（Chrotopterus auritus）是不常见的，因此在博物馆收藏品中的代表性很差，积累了足够的数量，允许评估亚种，性别，空间和环境组成部分的表型变异。我检查了123个样本，来自C.耳和表征的表型的基础上外部，颅和下颌骨的特点。我将变异分解为基于单变量和多变量统计分析的成分。所有组分均占显著的表型变异。尽管如此，当一起检查，并占组件之间的相关变化后，只有性别，空间和环境的组成部分占显着的独特的变化。这一点，结合观察，所有的定性特征用于定义亚种的C。在其整个地理范围内都可以观察到auritus，表明表型变异是倾斜的，而不是以反映亚种的不连续性为特征。斜变与温度及其季节性关系最密切，突出了这些气候特征在Phyllostomidae生物学的许多方面所发挥的重要作用。
Continuous phenotypic variation reflecting geographical clines can be difficult to distinguish from subspecific discontinuities when specimens are few and heterogeneously distributed. Nonetheless, increases in the holdings of museum collections over recent decades contribute to our ability to resolve more fine-scaled phenotypic gradients for many species. Although the big-eared woolly bat (Chrotopterus auritus) is not commonly encountered and thus poorly represented in museum collections, sufficient numbers have accumulated to allow an assessment of subspecific, sexual, spatial and environmental components of phenotypic variation. I examined 123 specimens from across the distribution of C. auritus and characterized the phenotype based on external, cranial and mandibular characteristics. I decomposed variation into components based on univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. All components accounted for significant phenotypic variation. Nonetheless, when examined together and after accounting for correlated variation among components, only sexual, spatial and environmental components accounted for significant unique variation. This, combined with the observation that all qualitative characteristics used to define subspecies of C. auritus can be observed throughout its geographical range, suggest that phenotypic variation is clinal and not characterized by discontinuities reflective of subspecies. Clinal variation was most strongly related to temperature and its seasonality, highlighting the important role played by these climatic characteristics in many aspects of the biology of Phyllostomidae.