STEPHENS, Natalee*; DESALLE, Rob; ALMEIDA, Francisca ; GIANNINI, NORBERTO ; BOLNET, Carolle; Medgar Evers College; American Museum of Natural History; American Museum of Natural History; American Museum of Natural History; Medgar Evers College: Towards a Phylogeny of Megabats
The phylogenetic relationships among megabats (Order Chiroptera: Suborder Megachiroptera) are still under investigation. Previous studies using molecular data to investigate the systematics of megachiroptera have relied mainly on mitochondrial genes (12S, tRNA-Val, 16S and cytochrome b). Three nuclear loci, RAG1, RAG2 and VWF, have already been sequenced for this study from 22 species samples available at the American Museum of Natural History collections. In order to complete the existing dataset, 49 samples representing 23 species were obtained from the Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago, IL), the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (University of California at Berkeley), the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, PA), and the Lubee Foundation (Gainseville, FL). A total of 45 different species, including representatives from all the main megabat suprageneric groups, have been included in this study. DNA was extracted from 49 newly obtained samples followed by PCR and sequencing for the three nuclear loci. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was also sequenced for all 49 new samples in addition to the 29 samples that were available at the AMNH, for a total of 78 individuals. Sequences were edited using Sequencher version 4.2 (Gene Codes Corp.) and aligned with Clustal X. Aligned sequences were combined generating a matrix of more than 4,000 base pairs. Selected species of microchiroptera were used as outgroup. Phylogenetic analyses were run in the software program PAUP* using maximum parsimony, and statistical support for branches was obtained using the bootstrap method. The results of the combined analyses give strong support for the monophyly of the megabats and increase the resolution and statistical support of relationships between species and genera.
