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A molecular phylogeny for bats illuminates biogeography and the fossil record

  1. Author:
    Teeling, E. C.
    Springer, M. S.
    Madsen, O.
    Bates, P.
    O'Brien, S. J.
    Murphy, W. J.

  2. Author Address

    NCI, Lab Genom Divers, Basic Res Program, SAIC Frederick Inc, Frederick, MD 21702 USA. Univ Coll Dublin, Dept Zool, Dublin 4, Ireland. Univ Calif Riverside, Dept Biol, Riverside, CA 92521 USA. Radboud Univ Nijmegen, Dept Biochem, NL-6500 HB Nijmegen, Netherlands. Harrison Inst, Ctr Systemat & Biodivers Res, Sevenoaks TN13 3AQ, Kent, England. NCI, Lab Genom Divers, Frederick, MD 21702 USA. Texas A&M Univ, Coll Vet Med & Biomed Sci, Dept Vet Integrat Biosci, College Stn, TX 77843 USA Teeling, EC, NCI, Lab Genom Divers, Basic Res Program, SAIC Frederick Inc, Frederick, MD 21702 USA
    1. Year: 2005
    2. Date: JAN 28
  2. Journal: Science
    1. 307
    2. 5709
    3. Pages: 580-584
  4. Type of Article: Article
  1. Abstract:

    Bats make up more than 20% of extant mammals, yet their evolutionary history is largely unknown because of a limited fossil record and conflicting or incomplete phylogenies. Here, we present a highly resolved molecular phylogeny for all extant bat families. Our results support the hypothesis that megabats are nested among four major microbat lineages, which originated in the early Eocene [52 to 50 million years ago (Mya)], coincident with a significant global rise in temperature, increase in plant diversity and abundance, and the zenith of Tertiary insect diversity. Our data suggest that bats originated in Laurasia, possibly in North America, and that three of the major microbat lineages are Laurasian in origin, whereas the fourth is Gondwanan. Combining principles of ghost lineage analysis with molecular divergence dates, we estimate that the bat fossil record underestimates (unrepresented basal branch length, UBBL) first occurrences by, on average, 73% and that the sum of missing fossil history is 61%

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  1. View record in Web of Science®
  2. WOS: 000226694000047

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