Hidden diversity in Senegalese bats and associated findings in the systematics of the family Vespertilionidae.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The Vespertilionidae is the largest family of bats, characterized by high occurrence of morphologically convergent groups, which impedes the study of their evolutionary history. The situation is even more complicated in the tropics, where certain regions remain under-sampled.

Results

Two hundred and thirteen vespertilionid bats from Senegal (West Africa) were studied with the use of non-differentially stained karyotypes and multi-locus sequence data analysed with maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. These bats were identified as 10 different taxa, five of which were distinctive from their nominate species (Pipistrellus hesperidus, Nycticeinops schlieffenii, Scotoecus hirundo, Neoromicia nana and N. somalica), based on both karyotypes and molecular data. Thes

SUBMITTER: Koubinova D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3751436 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature