Molecular Biology and Evolution 18:684-688 (2001)
© 2001 Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
LETTER |
Implications for Bat Evolution from Two New Complete Mitochondrial Genomes
Institute of Molecular BioSciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Mitochondrial genomes are useful in the quantitative analysis of vertebrate evolution. We report here the complete mitochondrial genomes for a megabat (the flying fox, Pteropus scapulatus) and a microbat (the New Zealand long-tailed bat, Chalinolobus tuberculatus). The evolutionary history of bats (chiroptera) has been uncertain, and even the monophyly of this group has been questioned. The new sequences allow five questions to be addressed: the position of bats within eutheria, whether bats are monophyletic, whether microbats are paraphyletic with respect to megabats, the approximate timing of the origin of bats, and whether some insectivores (e.g., moles) form a sister group with bats. In order to examine these questions, we analyzed two data sets (both separately and combined), one with 12 protein-coding regions and the other with RNA (combined ribosomal RNAs and tRNAs). The results are congruent, support bat monophyly, and place bats close to the cetferungulates (whales [cetaceans]
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