Phylogenetic relationships of harpyionycterine megabats

NORBERTO P. GIANNINI; FRANCISCA CUNHA ALMEIDA; NANCY B. SIMMONS

BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

American Museum of Natural History

Lugar: New York; Año: 2009 p. 183 - 204

0003-0090

After almost 70 years of stablity following publication of Andersen’s (1912) monograph on the group, the systematics of megachiropteran bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) has been in a state of flux since the advent of molecular phylogenetics.  One particularly problematic group has been the Austromalayan Harpyionycterinae, currently thought to include Dobsonia and Harpyionycteris, and probably also Aproteles. In this contribution we revisit the systematics of harpyionycterines. We examine historical hypotheses of relationships including the suggestion by O. Thomas (1896) that the rousettine Boneia bidens may be related to Harpyionycteris, and report the results of a series of phylogenetic analyses based on new gene sequence data (RAG-1, RAG-2, and vWF) as well as previously published sequences (12S, tVal, 16S, ND2, and c-mos).  Despite a striking lack of morphological synapomorphies, results of our combined analyses indicate that Boneia groups with Aproteles, Dobsonia and Harpyionycteris in a well-supported, expanded Harpyionycterinae. While monophyly of this group is well supported, internal topology changes within this clade across analyses of different data partitions indicate conflicting phylogenetic signal in the mitochondrial partition. The position of the harpyionycterine clade within the megachiropteran tree remains uncertain. Nevertheless, biogeographic patterns (vicariance-dispersal events) within Harpyionycterinae appear clear and can be directly linked to major biogeographic boundaries of the Austromalayan region.  The new phylogeny of Harpionycterinae also provides a new framework for interpreting aspects of dental evolution in pteropodids (e.g., reduction in the incisor dentition) and allows prediction of roosting habits for Harpyionycteris, whose habits are unknown.