中科院昆明动物研究所、墨西哥生态研究所和加拿大安大略皇家博物馆的研究人员共同确定了翼手目（蝙蝠）菊头蝠科一新种——楔鞍菊头蝠(Rhinolophus xinanzhongguoensis)。该成果已发表在今年2月出版的《哺乳动物学杂志》（Journal of Mammalogy）。
该研究课题主要由中科院昆明动物研究所哺乳动物生态与进化学科组的蒋学龙研究员和博士研究生周昭敏以及墨西哥生态研究所的Antonio Guillén-Servent教授承担，共同作者还有王应祥研究员以及安大略皇家博物馆的Burton K. Lim博士和Judith L. Eger博士。
菊头蝠是旧大陆的物种，分布于欧、亚、非和澳洲，为单型科，现有79种,已有的形态分类系统将其分为15个种组。其中landeri种组的种类主要在非洲分布，其鼻叶形态与楔鞍菊头蝠相似即有尖的角状联接叶和楔形鞍状叶，但体型明显较小，而同域分布的其它体型较大的菊头蝠都具圆钝的联接叶。因此，我们确定楔鞍菊头蝠为一新种。
已有证据表明，菊头蝠起源于始新世中晚期（3700万年前），在早中新世晚期（1500万年前）开始快速分化，现生的菊头蝠中，除了早期分化出的Aquias（5种）和Phyllorhina（1种）支系，其余物种分属于非洲-古北和亚洲两大支系。
经过形态学和分子生物学的综合比较，楔鞍菊头蝠被证实与非洲-古北支系有更紧密的亲缘关系。该新种是迄今发现的第二个在亚洲有分布，但在系统发育上隶属于非洲-古北支系的物种（另一个是马铁菊头蝠，R. ferrumequinum）。它的发现丰富了我们对整个印度马来地区菊头蝠物种多样性认识，揭示了晚中新世（1000万年前）气候变暖使当时的撒哈拉、中东和印度次大陆北部地区比现今更适宜于菊头蝠生活，并为菊头蝠在埃塞俄比亚界和古北界东西部间扩散提供了适宜条件。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Journal of Mammalogy，DOI: 10.1644/08-MAMM-A-048.1，Zhao-Min Zhou，Xue-Long Jiang
A New Species from Southwestern China in the Afro-Palearctic Lineage of the Horseshoe Bats (Rhinolophus)
Zhao-Min Zhou1, 2, Antonio Guillén-Servent3, Burton K. Lim4, Judith L. Eger4, Ying-Xiang Wang1, and Xue-Long Jiang1
1. State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 32 Jiaochang Donglu, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China (Z-MZ, Y-XW, X-LJ), 2. Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China (Z-MZ), 3. Instituto de Ecología A.C., Km 2.5 Carretera Antigua a Coatepec #351, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, México (AG-S), 4. Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada (BKL, JLE)
A new species of horseshoe bat (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) is described from southwestern China. The presence of a wedge-shaped sella and pointed connecting process of the nose leaf aligns the new species to the landeri group in the Afro-Palearctic lineage of Rhinolophus. However, the new species is distinctly separable from these allopatrically distributed species by its noticeably larger body size. Other sympatric large-sized species of Rhinolophus have rounded connecting processes. Molecular systematic analyses based on mitochondrial cytochrome-b sequences confirmed the affinity of the new species to the Afro-Palearctic lineage, but in a clade most closely related to the ferrumequinum, fumigatus, and maclaudi groups. Of these species, only R. ferrumequinum ranges into Asia and overlaps in distribution with the new species. R. ferrumequinum is similar in general body size and external appearance; however, the new species is distinct in the characteristics of the nose leaf, skull, and baculum. The presence of a new species from southwestern China in the Afro-Palearctic lineage indicates a more complex historical biogeographic scenario within Rhinolophus than previously known. The difficulties found in allocating the new species to one of the phenetically described traditional species groups stress the convenience of using a phylogenetically based systematic organization of the genus Rhinolophus.
