Molecular Phylogenetics of Fruitbats
The fruitbats (Megachiroptera) contain approximately forty genera and 150 species. They are widely distributed through the Indo-West Pacific and Africa, with representatives on many isolated archipelagoes. The evolutionary relationship among fruitbats based on morphology is relatively well established, however several questions still remain unresolved. To investigate these questions, we are collecting DNA sequences for phylogenetic analysis.
Although Andersen's thorough systematic study ("Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the collection of the British Museum", British Museum, London, 1912) has stood the test of time and methodological advances remarkably well, there is continuing interest in a number of aspects of fruitbat phylogeny. These include whether the Macroglossines (the sub-family of long-tongued, nectar feeders including the only megabat species with long tails) are monophyletic, and whether the African species comprise multiple lineages. There is also question whether all of the 60 or more described species of the genus Pteropus are valid, and what the evolutionary relationships are between the sub-groups of this genus.
In 1995, we addressed some of these questions in a study of restriction fragment length polymorphism in ribosomal DNA genes, but this technique provided only 23 characters. Currently, Pam Da Costa is studying the group's systematics by applying DNA sequencing to two genes, the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA and the nuclear c-mos.
Participants
Pam Da Costa
Dr Don Colgan
Dr Tim Flannery (currently Director of the South Australian Museum)
Selected references
- Bautista, J.M., Alvarez, & Juste, J. 1999. Molecular phylogeny and morphological homoplasy in fruitbats. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 16,
- Hollar, L.J.& Springer, M.S. 1997. Old world fruitbat phylogeny: evidence for convergent evolution and an endemic African clade. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 94, 5716-5721.
Copyright © 2003, Australian Museum
