INVESTIGADORES
GIANNINI Norberto Pedro
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Establishing hypotheses of homology in the Phyllostomid bat skulls (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae).
Autor/es:
ROSSONI, D.M.; PORTO, A.O.; GIANNINI, NP; MARROIG, G.
Lugar:
Praga
Reunión:
Congreso; 15th International bat Research Conference; 2010
Institución organizadora:
Charles University in Prague
Resumen:
Phyllostomid
bats belong to the most ecologically diverse family within the order
Chiroptera, including taxa that variously feed on insects, fruit, pollen,
nectar, leaves, vertebrates, and blood. The cranial diversity, the variety of
life-histories and the long period of evolutionary diversification make
phyllostomids an attractive group to investigate the evolution of complex
characters. Although recent detailed anatomical descriptions of skull morphology
are available for Pteropus (Megachiroptera), no such descriptive work exists
for phyllostomid bats (Microchiroptera). This family remains essentially
unexplored with respect to the anatomical description of skull morphology as
well as hypotheses testing individual
bones homology. The aim of
our work is to establish hypotheses of homology for the skull bones of
phyllostomid bats. Here, we chose to focus our analysis on some phyllostomid
species with different dietary habits. These species are well represented in
Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. We established 34 homologous
skull landmarks for each species from different dietary groups. These set of
landmarks are well established in other groups of mammals studied in our laboratory
and reflects important
developmental/functional relationships among cranial structures. They
are positioned at the intersection of sutures or other discrete and homologous
cranial features. Because adult bats are characterized by a relatively complete
fusion of cranial bones, we used young individuals as a model to define and understand the structures of
bones and sutures in adults. This
study provides information and establish homology hypotheses for the skull
morphology of phyllostomid bats. These
efforts represent a first step as part of a larger project in which our focus
is to understand the evolution of cranial morphology in New World
leaf-nosed bats and the potential evolution of the relationships among
traits.