Evolution and speciation mechanisms in a cryptic species complex of pan-African bats

This project will reveal and compare phylogenetic structure and phylogeographic patten in pan-African cryptic complex of Hipposideros caffer. Along with comaprison of systematic and evolutionary relationships among species and populations from regions throughout the distribution area, an emphasis will be given on the sympatric populations occurring in two model areas of West (Ghana) and East (Uganda/South Sudan) Africa in a latitudinal gradient covering various vegetation zones from rainforest to Sudanian savannah. In these sympatric populations, diet analysis will be carried out in order to compare dietary niches and assessment of conditions enabling their sympatric coexistence. In relationship to genetic variability, morphological divergence will be assessed for comparison of minor phenotype differences in morphologically cryptic forms, and systematics of the species complex will be revised. Comparative approach on phylo- and population-genetic level will be applied using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, and reduced-representation genome-wide SNP markers, amplicon sequencing for barcoding of insect DNA in faeces and transcriptomic approach to analysis of expression of selected genes for immunity and physiology of hibernation, all through high-throughput sequencing (HTS).