Geographic dispersion of Phyllostomidae family (Chiroptera) based on Cytochrome b sequences

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The Chiroptera order is one of the most successful species of mammals with a wide geographical distribution. This order has been traditionally divided into two suborders, Microchiroptera and Megachiroptera, and the family Phyllostomidae is included in the suborder Microchiroptera. However, studies with molecular analysis show a different classification in two different suborders: Yangochiroptera and Yinpterochiroptera. Studies with various species describe a wide dispersal of these animals from Central America to South America and specimens of different places, creating new karyotypes and different nucleotide sequences, especially in the widely known Cytochrome b gene. In this study, we analyzed a phylogeographic dispersion of the Pyllostomidae family using the mitochondrial Cytochrome b gene, a possible dispersion pattern for family and new evolutionary proposals. All the sequences were obtained from the online database (GenBank) and the analysis and formation of phylogenetic trees were performed by maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods. Some dispersion patterns were observed for species of genus Carollia and Glossophaga in individual analysis and other species pattern of dispersion from South to West. But in general analysis, a pattern of dispersal to the North of the American Continent was evidenced for the family, following South America to Central America, despite many landforms that could cause speciation of some genera such as isolation by the Andes mountains. Further analysis, with a greater number of specimens from different locations, must be done to confirm this theory.