Phylogenetic relationships of selected vespertilionid bats from tribes Pipistrellini, Nycticeiini and Vespertilionini
Abstract
Phylogenetic relationships among the vesper bats (family Vespertilionidae) were reconstructed mainly with the use of morphological and cytogenetic characters in the past and the scientific effort was focused rather on other locations than on subsaharan Africa. In our study, we analyzed samples belonging mainly to the tribes Pipistrellini, Nycticeini and Vespertilionini collected during seven expeditions at fourteen collecting sites mainly at the area of the Niokolo Koba National Park in the southeastern part of Senegal (western Africa).
Phylogenetic analysis were performed using the sequences of several mitochondrial (cytochrome b, tRNA-Thr, 12S, tRNA-Val, 16S) and nuclear genes (RAG1, RAG 2) from specimens collected in Senegal together with the data from GenBank. In the case of Senegalese specimens, the information obtained from the molecular analysis was compared with the results revealed by the examination of standard Giemsa-stained karyotypes.