Bats are the second most specious group of mammals with a high cryptic diversity. Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized our understating of speciation and diversification patterns, especially in species complexes with rapid radiation. In this talk, I will discuss the diversification and speciation patterns of the widely distributed Old World fruit bat genus Cynopterus. This genus has undergone a recent radiation giving rise to multiple species which share broad sympatric zones across South and Southeast Asia. For this study, we generated about 1.5 MB of genome-wide DNA sequence data from close to 1000 loci from multiple species of Cynopterus bats across their distribution using sequence capture method. Phylogenetic reconstructions and tests for introgression revealed potential new species level lineages and rampant introgression between various sympatric lineages. This study highlights the role of gene flow in diversification and speciation.
Diversification and complex patterns of introgression in Old World fruit bat