An evolutionary ecomorphological perspective on the assembly of a Neotropical bat metacommunity

Abstract

Abstract The evolution of bat skull has been extensively studied at a broad scale. However, we know little about how phenotypes that evolved in response to selective pressure elsewhere interact with ecological pressures to determine species co-ocurrence in human-modified landscapes. Here, we test the influence of size, diet, and foraging strategy on the skull and jaw shape of 32 co-occurring bat species in an agroecological landscape from southwestern Brazil. We used 2D geometric morphometrics for skull and jaw and phylogenetic comparative methods to integrate morphology, ecology, and phylogeny data. Our results show that closely related species were clustered together in the morphospace. Likewise, ecology and phylogeny influenced the cranial and jaw shape. Groups with greater phenotypic disparity were animalivores and insectivores. The skull of frugivores and animalivores were larger than that of insectivores and had a common and positive allometric relationship, probably related to olfactory-visual senses. Apparently, coexistence in Stenodermatinae frugivores is possible because they have optimal phenotypes for exploration food resources related to the skull and jaw size. Conversely, insectivores that clustered together in the morphospace had differences in foraging strategy or size.