Cladistical Analysis of Female Reproductive Histomorphology in Phyllostomatoid Bats

Abstract

Hood, C. S. (The Museum, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409) and J. D. Smith (Department of Biological Science, California State University, Fullerton, California 92634; and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90007) 1982. Cladistical analysis of female reproductive histomorphology in phyllostomatoid bats. Syst. Zool., 31:241-251.-A cladistic analysis of the neotropical bat families Noctilionidae, Mormoopidae, and Phyllostomatidae is presented utilizing structures of the female reproductive tract. Several shared-derived (synapomorphous) features of the uterus, oviduct, and ovaries were identified within these taxa. These included features of external and internal uterine anatomy, the uterotubal junction, form of oviductal mucosal folds, anatomical relationships between oviduct and uterus, and the position of the ovarian ligament. A cladogram based on these female reproductive histomorphological synapomorphies was constructed and is proposed as a phylogenetic hypothesis. This hypothesis was tested for congruence with independent data sets involving comparative morphological, karyological, and biochemical characteristics. Noctilionids, mormoopids, and phyllostomatids possess synapomorphies that indicate they shared a common ancestor and thereby form a monophyletic group, the Phyllostomatoidea. However, based on features of the female reproductive tract, the neotropical family Thyropteridae (which has been previously assigned to the superfamily Vespertilionoidea) should be included in considering phylogenetic relationships of the Phyllostomatoidea. Familial relationships are somewhat conflicting; some studies (including the present analysis) specify a sister-group relationship between mormoopids and phyllostomatids, whereas others suggest a noctilionidmormoopid relationship. Relationships within the Phyllostomatidae are resolved at subfamilial levels with female reproductive and independent data sets. The high level of congruence found between the phylogenetic relationships predicted by these data sets is proposed as strong evidence for the phylogenetic resolving power of female reproductive histomorphology. [Reproductive histomorphology; Noctilionidae; Mormoopidae; Phyllostomatidae; Thyropteridae; phylogeny.] Studies on the phylogenetic relationships of bats (Chiroptera) have been interpreted largely in the context of the classification proposed by G. S. Miller, Jr. (1907), as modified by Simpson (1945) (for a review, see Smith, 1980). Comprehensive studies on various aspects of chiropteran biology have included many ad hoc comments on phylogenetic relationships. However, there are few comparative studies which have critically evaluated kinship relationships among bats. Evolutionary relationships of the neotropical chiropteran families Noctilionidae, Mormoopidae, and Phyllostomatidae have been debated for many years. Some workers have emphasized primitive features of noctilionids and proposed phylogenetic relationships with the Emballonuridae leading to the placement of noctilionids in the superfamily Emballonuroidea (Dobson, 1875; Trouessart, 1897; Miller, 1907; Simpson, 1945). Other workers have emphasized a close association of noctilionids with mormoopids and phyllostomatids on the basis of shared-derived features and place these three families in a monophyletic superfamily, the Phyllostomatoidea (Winge, 1892; Walton and Walton, 1968; Smith, 1972, 1976; Patton and Baker, 1978; Arnold et al., 1982). This study presents the first cladistic analysis of noctilionids, mormoopids, and phyllostomatids based on features of the female reproductive tract. Phylogenetic relationships proposed on the basis of synapomorphous features of the female reproductive tract are compared with those found in studies of other, indepen-