Advances in New Zealand mammalogy 1990–2000: Short‐tailed bats

Abstract

There have been many attempts to determine Mystacina'a phylogenetic relationships using morphological features. These attempts have produced conflicting results with the genus placed in four families by different authors (Kirsch et al. 1998). Recent classifications based on morphological features place Mystacina in the superfamily Vespertilionidae (e.g. Van Valen 1979; Koopman 1994; Simmons 1998), but four molecular analyses place Mystacina in the superfamily Noctilionoidea (previously Phyllostomoidea), a placing that is now generally accepted (e.g. Daniel 1990; Altringham 1996). Immunological comparisons place Mystacina close to Noctilio, a genus in the Noctilionoidea (Pierson et al. 1982, 1986). DNADNA hybridisation indicates Mystacina is the most basal group in the Noctilionoidea (Kirsch et al. 1998; Kirsch & Lloyd 1998). Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondria! DNA sequences from cytochrome b (Kennedy et al. 1999) and the 12s, and 16s rRNA, and tRNA Val (Van Den Bussche 1999) also place Mystacina in the Noctilionoidea. Difficulties in determining Mystacina's phylogenetic relationships probably stem from the mosaic of morphological adaptations, including derived and convergent features, which have arisen in the genus as a result of its diverse lifestyle (Kirsch et al. 1998a). Alternatively, Kennedy et al. (1999) suggest that conflicts in classifying Mystacina may be a result of the rapid chiropteran radiation which did not allow phylogenetically meaningful morphological differentiation between families. The Noctilionoidea is a large superfamily containing 158 extant species, divided into four families: Mystacinidae (1 species), Noctilionidae or fishing bats (2 species), Mormoopidae or moustached bats (8 species) and Phyllostomidae or New World leaf-nosed bats (147 species). With the exception of Mystacina, the superfamily is now restricted to central and south America. It is thought to have evolved in the neotropics and exhibits more diversity than any other superfamily of bats; the group includes insectivorous, carnivorous, sanguinivorous, nectarivorous, frugivorous and omnivorous species. Carnivorous species prey on a wide variety of small vertebrates including small mammals (including other bats), birds, reptiles, amphibia and fish. All members of the superfamily echolocate, though many also use prey-generated sound to locate prey.