Genetic Characterization and Insular Habitat Enveloping of Endangered Leaf-Nosed Bat, (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in India: Phylogenetic Inference and Conservation Implication.

The Nicobar leaf-nosed Bat () was described in the early 20th century; however, its systematic classification has been debated for over 100 years. This endangered and endemic species has achieved species status through morphological data in the last 10 years. However, the genetic information and phylogenetic relationships of remain neglected. The generated mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (mtCytb) sequences (438 bp) of contains 53.42-53.65% AT composition and 1.82% variable sites. The studied species, maintains an 8.1% to 22.6% genetic distance from other species. The genetic divergence estimated in this study is congruent with the concept of gene speciation in bats. The Bayesian and Maximum-Likelihood phylogenies clearly discriminated all species and showed a sister relationship between and cf. . Current mtCytb-based investigations of have confirmed the species status at the molecular level. Further, the MaxEnt-based species distribution modelling illustrates the most suitable habitat of (294 km), of which the majority (171 km) is located on Great Nicobar Island. The present study suggests rigorous sampling across the range, taxonomic coverage, the generation of multiple molecular markers (mitochondrial and nuclear), as well as more ecological information, which will help in understanding population genetic structure, habitat suitability, and the implementation of appropriate conservation action plans for and other species.