Javier Juste

Doñana Biological Station. Spanish National Research Council · Evolutionary Biology

Roughly a third of all horseshoe bat species (Rhinolophidae: Rhinolophus) are found in Africa, where a recent continent-wide genetic survey suggested the presence of both undescribed and apparently invalid species. Here, we focus on the R. landeri species complex and the recent elevation of R. lobatus Peters, 1852, to species rank. That action crea...

The Earth Hologenome Initiative (EHI) is a global collaboration to generate and analyse hologenomic data from wild animals and associated microorganisms using standardised methodologies underpinned by open and inclusive research principles. Initially focused on vertebrates, it aims to re-examine ecological and evolutionary questions by studying hos...

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species’ population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate ‘intactness scores’: the remaining proportion of...

Bats have gained cumulative attention as potential reservoirs for viruses, being crucial to increase our ability to predict viral prevalence and transmissions, as well as support the possible management of future zoonotic episodes. Following the PRISMA standard systematic review protocols, we conducted a comprehensive search worldwide for scientifi...

Anthropogenically driven environmental changes over recent centuries have led to severe declines of wildlife populations. Better tools are needed to assess the magnitude and consequences of these declines. Anecdotal evidence suggests European bat populations have suffered substantial declines in the past centuries. However, there is little empirica...

Anthropogenically-driven environmental changes over the past two centuries have led to severe biodiversity loss, most prominently in the form of loss of populations and individuals. Better tools are needed to assess the magnitude of these wildlife population declines. Anecdotal evidence suggests European bat populations have suffered substantial de...

Knowledge of species' functional traits is essential for understanding biodiversity patterns, predicting the impacts of global environmental changes, and assessing the efficiency of conservation measures. Bats are major components of mammalian diversity and occupy a variety of ecological niches and geographic distributions. However, an extensive co...

Bats are distinctive among mammals due to their ability to fly, use laryngeal echolocation, and tolerate viruses. However, there are currently no reliable cellular models for studying bat biology or their response to viral infections. Here, we created induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from two species of bats: the wild greater horseshoe bat (R...

We describe a population of pipistrelle-like bats from Príncipe Island (Gulf of Guinea, Western Central Africa) as a new species based on the molecular and morphological characteristics of six specimens collected more than 30 years ago. The description of this new species was not possible until the traditionally entangled systematics of the whole p...

Toda la información: https://www.catarata.org/libro/tesoros-naturales-de-guinea-ecuatorial_145451/

Oceanic islands are usually difficult for mammals to colonize; consequently, the native mammal fauna is typically species-poor, often consisting of just a few species of bats. The oceanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea are no exception to this pattern. Still, the known mammal richness is relatively high for the small size of the islands. Out of a to...

Bats have evolved features unique amongst mammals, including flight, laryngeal echolocation, and certain species have been shown to have a unique immune response that may enable them to tolerate viruses such as SARS-CoVs, MERS-CoVs, Nipah, and Marburg viruses. Robust cellular models have yet to be developed for bats, hindering our ability to furthe...

Cryptic species that coexist in sympatry are likely to simultaneously experience strong competition and hybridization. The first phenomenon would lead to character displacement, whereas the second can potentially promote morphological similarity through adaptive introgression. The main goal of this work was to investigate the effect of introgressiv...

Despite being one of the most common congenital hand abnormalities in humans, polydactyly remains extremely rare in bats. To date, it has been observed only in two insectivorous families in North America (Molossidae and Vespertilionidae) and a single case for the New World fruit bats (Phyllostomidae). We report the first case of polydactyly in a Eu...

Aim: Comprehensive, global information on species' occurrences is an essential biodiversity variable and central to a range of applications in ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation. Expert range maps often represent a species' only available distributional information and play an increasing role in conservation assessments and macroeco...

Forests are key native habitats in temperate environments. While their structure and composition contribute to shaping local-scale community assembly, their role in driving larger-scale species distributions is understudied. We used detailed forest inventory data, an extensive dataset of occurrence records, and species distribution models integrate...

Cryptic species that coexist in sympatry are likely to simultaneously experience strong competition and hybridization. The first phenomenon would lead to character displacement, whereas the second can potentially promote morphological similarity through adaptive introgression. The main goal of this work was to investigate the effect of introgressiv...

From 1999 to 2021, more than 2600 greater noctules (Nyctalus lasiopterus) were ringed over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula (52% females). The 18% of these noctules were recaptured at least once. Most of the recaptures (97%) took place in the same location that the ringing (roost or mist-netting) or within 5 km of this point, were carried out...

Genetic miscegenation was historically perceived as a maladaptive process or even an imperfection of nature. However, through adaptive introgression, some species can share genes associated with well-adapted traits. Current scientific perceptions on the benefits of adaptive introgression can help to clarify how these paradoxes condition scientific...

The Big Naked-backed Bat, Pteronotus gymnonotus, is one of the 15 species currently recognized of this genus, with relatively few specimens in scientific collections, besides being poorly studied. It has a geographical distribution spanning from México through Central America and reaching Perú and Brazil, in which it occupies a variety of habitats...

This comprehensive species-specific chapter covers all aspects of the mammalian biology, including paleontology, physiology, genetics, reproduction and development, ecology, habitat, diet, mortality, and behavior. The economic significance and management of mammals and future challenges for research and conservation are addressed as well. The chapt...

Aim The need to forecast range shifts under future climate change has motivated an increasing interest in better understanding the role of biotic interactions in driving diversity patterns. The contribution of biotic interactions to shaping broad-scale species distributions is, however, still debated, partly due to the difficulty of detecting their...

Two sibling bare-backed bat species (Pteronotus fulvus and P. gymnonotus) have been traditionally differentiated by their size. However, intermediate specimens between the two species have been found in sympatric populations along southern Mexico and it has been suggested that they may be the outcome of a hybridization process between the two speci...

Recent historical and anthropogenic changes in the landscape causing habitat fragmentation can disrupt the connectivity of wild populations and pose a threat to the genetic diversity of multiple species. This study investigated the effect of habitat fragmentation on the structure and genetic diversity of the Mexican greater funnel-eared bat (Natalu...

To prevent the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases and reduce their epidemic potential , we need to understand their origins in nature. Bats in the order Chiroptera are widely distributed worldwide and are natural reservoirs of prominent zoonotic viruses, including Nipah virus , Marburg virus, and possibly SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we applie...

The family Pteropodidae (Old World fruit bats) comprises >200 species distributed across the Old World tropics and subtropics. Most pteropodids feed on fruit, suggesting an early origin of frugivory, although several lineages have shifted to nectar-based diets. Pteropodids are of exceptional conservation concern with >50% of species considered thre...

Roost fidelity is an important aspect of mammalian biology. Studying the mechanisms underlying philopatry can help us understand a species’ energetic requirements, ecological constraints and social organisation. Temperate bat species notably exhibit a high degree of female philopatry considering their size, resulting in maternity colonies segregate...

We report here the first record of an American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus in a Mediterranean coastal site (18 February–14 March 2019, Fuengirola, Malaga, S Spain). This gull was an adult bird and its identification was confirmed by a combination of mtDNA molecular analyses and morphological characters. This record furthermore stands as possib...

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global priority. To meet this goal, the Spanish government is planning 89 GW of wind and solar photovoltaic energy in the draft of the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) for 2021–2030 (1). Despite the Spanish government's efforts to prevent a speculative bubble in the secondary market, there a...

Whilst climate change is recognised as a major future threat to biodiversity, most species are currently threatened by extensive human‐induced habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation. Tropical high altitude alpine and montane forest ecosystems and their biodiversity are particularly sensitive to temperature increases under climate change, but t...

We investigated the birds in the diet of the bird‐like noctule (Nyctalus aviator) through DNA amplification from feather remains found in faecal pellets. Our goal was to confirm whether N. aviator preys on nocturnally migratory species, as does its European relative N. lasiopterus, and to gain insight into this hunting strategy (e.g. on the wing vs...

Understanding the processes that enable species coexistence has important implications for assessing how ecological systems will respond to global change. Morphology and functional similarity increase the potential for competition, and therefore, co-occurring morphologically similar but genetically unique species are a good model system for testing...

Understanding the processes that enable species coexistence has important implications for assessing how ecological systems will respond to global change. Morphology and functional similarity increase the potential for competition, and therefore, co-occurring morphologically similar but genetically unique species are a good model system for testing...

Whilst climate change is recognised as a major future threat to biodiversity, most species are currently threatened by extensive human-induced habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation. Tropical high altitude alpine and montane forest ecosystems and their biodiversity are particularly sensitive to temperature increases under climate change, but t...

Adenoviruses are double-strained DNA viruses found in a great number of vertebrates, including humans. In order to understand their transmission dynamics, it is crucial, even from a human health perspective, to investigate how host traits influence their prevalence. Bats are important reservoirs for adenoviruses, and here we use the results of rece...

The Mediterranean Basin is a global biodiversity hotspot, hosting a number of native species belonging to families that are found almost exclusively in tropical climates. Yet, whether or not these taxa were able to survive in the Mediterranean region during the Quaternary climatic oscillations remains unknown. Focusing on the European free‐tailed b...

is a cave-dwelling bat species with a wide distribution in the western Palearctic spanning southern and central Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. We investigated the social structure and its effects on the genetic makeup of this species, using 10 nuclear microsatellite markers and a partial fragment of the mitochond...

The genus Molossus of the free-tailed bat family Molossidae is morphologically conservative and the level of genetic divergence is also low among many species, which has masked the actual species diversity in the genus. We analyzed the evolutionary relationships among species within Molossus using three mitochondrial (COI, Cytb, and 16S RNA), and t...

Cryptic speciation and hybridization are two key processes that affect the origin and maintenance of biodiversity and our ability to understand and estimate it. To determine how these two processes interact, we studied allopatric and sympatric colonies of two cryptic bat species (Eptesicus serotinus and E. isabellinus) with parapatric distribution...

1. A significant link between forest loss and fragmentation and outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans has been documented. Deforestation may alter the natural circulation of viruses and change the composition, abundance, behaviour and possibly viral exposure of reservoir species. This in turn might increase contact between infected anima...

Aim The impact of Pleistocene climatic oscillations on tropical biomes is associated with changes in the extent of forest cover. Fruit bats have played a role in woodland dynamics via pollination and seed dispersal. We hypothesized that phylogeographic patterns of Rousettus on continental Africa and adjacent islands should show a signature of pluvi...

Roost fidelity is an important aspect of mammalian biology. Studying the mechanisms underlying philopatry can help us understand a species' energetic requirements, ecological constraints and social organisation. Temperate bat species notably exhibit a comparatively high degree of female philopatry, resulting in maternity colonies segregated at the...

The discovery of new species of mammals in Europe is a rare event, but owing to recent progress in genetic methods used to survey current biodiversity, such discoveries have been accumulating during the last decades. The naming of these new taxa has important bearings in conservation, as this is the first step needed for them to be recognised by th...

Local adaptations can determine the potential of populations to respond to environmental changes, yet adaptive genetic variation is commonly ignored in models forecasting species vulnerability and biogeographical shifts under future climate change. Here we integrate genomic and ecological modeling approaches to identify genetic adaptations associat...

Adenoviruses are double-strained DNA viruses found in a great number of vertebrates, including humans. In order to understand their transmission dynamics, it is crucial, even from a human health perspective, to investigate how host traits influence their prevalence. Bats are important reservoirs for Adenoviruses, and here we use the results of rece...

The Myotis nattereri species complex consists of an entangled group of Western Palaearctic bats characterized by fringing hairs along the rear edge of their uropatagium. Some members are relatively common while others are rare but all forms are morphologically very similar and their taxonomy is unresolved. Recent studies based on different molecula...

Current knowledge about the bat fauna from the Republic of Guinea is still poor and corresponds mainly to forested highlands of the Nzérékoré region (Guinée forestière). A total of 65 species have been recorded for the country so far. This work provides records and some data on the ecology of bats captured during a bat sampling carried out in 2017...

Pteronotus psilotis, a mormoopid bat, is an insectivorous, gregarious and strict cave-dwelling species that is found areas between the sea level and an elevation of about 1000 masl. This species is present in diverse habitats ranging from rain forest to dry deciduous forest. Nine microsatellite loci were developed for Wagner’s mustached bat, Pteron...

In the context of long-term screening for viruses on Western Palaearctic bats, we tested for the presence of adenovirus 1392 oropharyngeal swabs and 325 stool samples taken from 27 bat species. Adenoviruses were detected in 12 species of the Vespertilionidae and the Rhinolophidae families. Fifty positive respiratory and 26 positive stool samples we...

In the context of long-term screening for viruses on Western Palaearctic bats, we tested for the presence of adenovirus 1.392 oropharyngeal swabs and 325 stool samples taken from 27 bat species. Adenoviruses were detected in 12 species of the Vespertilionidae and the Rhinolophidae families. Fifty positive respiratory and 26 positive stool samples w...

Phenology is a key feature in the description of species niches to capture seasonality in resource use and climate requirements. Species distribution models (SDMs) are widespread tools to evaluate a species’ potential distribution and identify its large-scale habitat preferences. Despite its chief importance, data phenology is often neglected in SD...

Wagner’s mustached bat (Pteronotus personatus) is an insectivorous bat distributed throughout America from Mexico to Brazil, which inhabits a range of habitats from rain forests to dry deciduous forests. There are two currently recognized species within the P. personatus complex, for which we examined 235 cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences and 13...

The identification of effects of invasive species is challenging owing to their multifaceted impacts on native biota. Negative impacts are most often reflected in individual fitness rather than in population dynamics of native species and are less expected in low-biodiversity habitats, such as urban environments. We report the long-term effects of...

Previous studies have shown that EBLV-1 strains exclusively hosted by Eptesicus isabellinus bats in the Iberian Peninsula cluster in a specific monophyletic group that is related to the EBLV-1b lineage found in the rest of Europe. More recently, enhanced passive surveillance has allowed the detection of the first EBLV-1 strains associated to Eptesi...

All EBLV-1 strains used and their characteristics, including accession numbers of all sequences. (PDF)

Iberian EBLV-1b Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction based on 686 bp sequences of phosphoprotein after sampling 10,000,000 tree generations. Tree nodes show posterior probability. Two Iberian EBLV-1a sequences (2011_Riglos, 201539226_HU) have been included as outgroup. (TIF)

Iberian EBLV-1b Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction based on 763bp of 5' terminal sequences of glycoprotein-polymerase’s intergenic region after sampling 10,000,000 tree generations. Tree nodes show posterior probability. Two Iberian EBLV-1a sequences (2011_Riglos, 201539226_HU) have been included as outgroup. (TIF)

Maximum clade credibility (MCC) phylogeny for all EBLV-1 nucleoprotein sequences. Blue node bars represent 95% highest posterior density (95% HPD) as Bayesian credible interval. Posterior values are shown as color-coded node dots, showing red as the highest posterior value. (TIF)