An African bat in Europe, Plecotus gaisleri: biogeographic and ecological insights from molecular taxonomy and Species Distribution Models. Plecotus gaisleri

Because of the high risk of going unnoticed, cryptic species represent a major challenge to biodiversity assessments, and this is particularly true for taxa that include many of them such as bats. Long-eared bats from the genus Plecotus comprise numerous cryptic species within the Mediterranean Region, present complex phylogenetic relationships and often unclear distributions, particularly at the edge of their known ranges and on islands. Here we combine Species Distribution Models (SDM), field surveys and molecular analyses to shed light on the long-debated presence of a cryptic long-eared bat species from North Africa, Plecotus gaisleri, on the islands of the Sicily Channel, providing strong evidence that this species also occurs in Europe, at least on the islands of W Mediterranean that act as a crossroad between the Old Continent and Africa.