Data from: The Gambian epauletted fruit bat shows increased genetic divergence in the Ethiopian highlands and in an area of rapid urbanisation

The Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus) is an abundant
species that roosts in both urban and rural settings. The possible role of
E. gambianus as a reservoir host of zoonotic diseases underlines the need
to better understand the species movement patterns. So far, neither
observational nor phylogenetic studies have identified the dispersal range
or behaviour of this species. Comparative analyses of mitochondrial and
nuclear markers from 20 localities across the known distribution of E.
gambianus showed population panmixia, except for the populations in
Ethiopia and southern Ghana (Accra and Ve-Golokwati). The Ethiopian
population may be ancestral and is highly divergent to the species across
the rest of its range, possibly reflecting isolation of an ancient
colonization along an East-West axis. Mitochondrial haplotypes in the
Accra population display a strong signature of a past bottleneck event;
evidence of either an ancient or recent bottleneck using microsatellite
data, however, was not detected. Demographic analyses identified
population expansion in most of the colonies, except in the female line of
descent in the Accra population. The molecular analyses of the colonies
from Ethiopia and southern Ghana show gender dispersal bias, with the
mitochondrial DNA fixation values over ten times those of the nuclear
markers. These findings indicate free mixing of the species across great
distances, which should inform future epidemiological studies.