Population Genetics of the Cave-dwelling Dusky Fruit Bat, Penthetor lucasi, Based on Four Populations in Malaysia

The population genetics of p. lucasi was inferred using 1,061 base pairs (bp) of the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene. a total of 77 individuals were classified a priori according to their localities, namely, miri, kuching, sri aman and kelantan. results showed that the populations of p. lucasi were separated into two haplogroups, namely, haplogroup 1 (found in miri and kuching populations) and haplogroup 2 (miri, kuching, sri aman and kelantan populations). this separation was supported by bootstrap values in the phylogenetics analyses (94.9% in the maximum likelihood and 100% in bayesian). a high level of genetic divergence was detected between two haplogroups (3.88%) and this separation could be related to historical events which include multiple colonisation and pleistocene refugia during the last glacial maximum ice age period. high genetic divergence within miri (4.93%) and kuching (4.72%) populations could be due to the presence of a species complex within the p. lucasi populations. the presence of haplotypes from both the populations in haplogroup 1 and haplogroup 2 might be due to the ability of this particular species of bats to perform long-distance flight for foraging. a high gene flow between these populations suggests a widespread female gene flow of p. lucasi, judging from the distance of both localities. meanwhile, the absence of a deep structure from the haplotype trees further proves that p. lucasi may have had a wide dispersal ability since the pleistocene has allowed for genetic exchange to occur between the regions in malaysia