Trends of karyotypic evolution in the genus Hipposideros (Chiroptera: Mammalia).

The karyotypes of Hipposideros speroris, H. pomona, H. lankadiva, H. ceneraceus, H. ater and H. fulvus were analysed using conventional and banding technqiues. All six species exhibited the same 2n (32) and FN (60). The genus is remarkable for its apparent karyotypic stability. These species have only biarmed autosomes, one of which is a submetacentric marker chromosome with an achromatic gap. G-banded autosomes showed that most have remained conservative in the course of evolution of the species. Structural changes seemed to have occurred more frequently in the sex elements of the karyotypes rather than in the autosomes, and non-Robertsonian changes had an appreciable role to play in karyotypic evolution. This trend is probably dictated by the maximization of the biarmed condition which reflects the formation of stabilised linkage groups from the inception of the genus. It is proposed that the ancestral lineage of the genus Hipposideros was derived from a Rhinolophoid ancester whose karyotype was akin to Rhinolophus luctus.