Beyond mtDNA: nuclear gene flow suggests taxonomic oversplitting in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Abstract

In southern Alberta and north-central Montana, there is substantial mtDNA sequence divergence between two groups of the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus (LeConte, 1831), previously thought to be subspecies ( Myotis lucifugus lucifugus and Myotis lucifugus carissima ) but recently hypothesized to be species. We tested this hypothesis using population genetic techniques. Using nuclear microsatellite markers (10 loci), we found a lack of differentiation between these two groups of bats (ascribed based on mitochondrial hypervariable region II sequence), suggesting interbreeding was sympatric. Our findings add to the recent discovery that M. l. lucifugus haplotypes are found throughout the range previously thought to be only M. l. carissima, suggesting widespread sympatry and extensively mixed gene pools, thus refuting the cryptic species hypothesis. Clinal morphology and individual variation demonstrated the impossibility to differentiate groups based on original subspecies definitions. The lack of geographic and morphological boundaries, in addition to the likelihood that the interbreeding observed in this study is occurring across western North America, suggests that no line can be drawn between these two groups. We thus suggest that the carissima subspecies designation be dropped. This study highlights the importance of investigating nuclear gene flow in widely sympatric animals suspected of being cryptic genetic species, and has important implications for applications of the DNA Barcoding Project.