Electrophoretic characterization of Solomon Islands populations of Nyctimene and Rousettus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae).

Abstract

The taxonomic status of fruitbats belonging to the genera Nyctimene and Rousettus from the Solomon Islands was investigated using allozyme electrophoresis. Two populations from the Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) were included as reference profiles. The allozyme data at 23 loci assigned all specimens into either Nyctimene albiventer or Nyctimene major. The N. albiventer specimens comprised two subspecies, N. a. papuanus from the Bismarck Archipelago and N. a. bougainville from the Solomon Islands. No support was evident for bougainville being a separate species, and indeed the data suggest that N. a. bougainville encompasses the previously described species N. malaita and subspecies N. a. minor. Genetic distances between populations of R. amplexicaudatus from the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands were generally low, supporting recent morphological assessments that the subspecies hedigeri, from the majority of the Solomon Islands, should be considered synonymous with subspecies brachyotis. An individual from Choiseul (Solomon Islands) with a distinctive allozyme profile is the only evidence of taxonomic complexity in R. amplexicaudatus.