| Hipposideros lylei from Yunnan Province had been regarded as H. pratti lylei. Then, many scholars thought that it should be an independent species. H. lylei in China was first found in Lincang City in Yunnan Province together with a few morphological data recorded. There was no related report later. In order to probe into the difference of H. lylei and H. pratti, a series of bat survey were conducted in different regions of China, from 2011 to 2014. With a combination of macro- and micro-analyses, the difference of them was studied based on external and cranial variables, and two mitochondrial genes(Cytb and COI). The effect of Hengduan Mountains on their distributions was discussed. Besides, their roost structure and microenvironment were studied together with reasonable protective suggestions.1. Using mist nets and hand nets, 104 H. pratti and 11 H. lylei specimens were collected at the mouth or inside the caves. 30 H. pratti and 6 H. lylei specimens were brought back to the laboratory with skulls extracted. The specimens were preserved in Henan Normal University Biological Specimen Depository. The other individuals were released after sampling and measuring. On the overall level of external and cranial variables, principal component analysis results showed that the difference of H. pratti from different districts was small and larger difference was existed in H. pratti and H. lylei. Discriminant analysis indicated the similar results. For H. pratti, the specimens from Yunnan Province showed larger difference compared with the specimens from other districts.2. Molecular materials were collected from 38 samples to compare the sequence divergence of Cytb and COI gene. 17 haplotypes of Cytb sequence was obtained with a length of 1140 bp. Genetic divergence among H. pratti from 5 provinces was 0 ~ 2.4%, and sequence differences between H. pratti and H. lylei was 4.2% ~ 4.7%. 7 haplotypes of COI sequence was obtained with a length of 621 bp. Genetic divergence of COI gene among H. pratti from 5 provinces was 0 ~ 2.3%, and sequence differences between H. pratti and H. lylei was 2.3% ~ 2.8%. Based on Cytb and COI gene, phylogenetic trees showed that two monophyletic groups were formed respectively for H. pratti and H. lylei, with approval rating of 100%. Conclusion: H. pratti in China is the same subspecies. H. lylei from western Yunnan is probably one subspecies of H. pratti resulting from barrier of Hengduan Mountains.3. 90 caves were explored in field survey from 2011 to 2014. Among them, 75 are bat roosts, with nine habiting H. pratti and one habiting H. lylei. Structure characteristics of the habitats and microenvironment in caves were recorded in detail, and evaluated the degree of interference and the importance for the conservation of bat species in China. Comparing bat roosts with and without bats, the results showed that bat roosts had less number of entrances, longer length of the cave, higher humidity inside the cave and smaller light intensity. Among the nine H. pratti roosts, only one cave was basically in natural state, six in serious interference and two in light interference. For the importance for the conservation, four caves were level 1 and five were level 2. H. pratti often inhabited with other bat species. Generally, males and females were separated in different caves during the nursing season. They may inhabit in different sections in the bigger natural cave. However, because of tourism development, the usage of pesticides and human predation, H. pratti have reduced sharply together with other bat species. It is imperative to strengthen the protection for bats. |
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