Abstract
Myotis is the largest genus of the Vespertilionidae family. It presents a cosmopolitan geographical distribution and is considered an example of adaptive radiation, however, with only nine species recorded for Brazil. This study synthesized aspects of the geographic distribution by map punctuating the main records for each species, karyotype, and phylogeny in contribution to the understanding of the taxonomic complex of the genus Myotis in Brazil. A search in bibliographic databases (e.g., Web of Science and SciElo) was carried out using keywords. The phylogeny study was based on the sequencing of a specimen of Myotis ruber collected in a fragment of the Altantic Forest of Minas Gerais; this specimen was deposited at the Newton Baião de Azevedo Museum of Zoology. The genus showed to be widely distributed in the Brazilian territory, with Myotis nigricans being the most widespread. In addition, high karyotypic conservatism was observed in all species of the genus. The phylogenetic analyses using the mt-Cytb gene corroborated the monophyletic aspect of the genus and the Myotis ruber species.
Highlights
Myotis Kaup, 1829 is the most representative genus among the Vespertilionidae and has a wide distribution (LaVal, 1973; Koopman, 1993; Ruedi & Mayer, 2001; Simmons, 2005; Tavares et al, 2008)
The phylogenetic analyses were based on a prior molecular evolution model, chosen using the Akaike Information Criterion test (AIC) with modifications following Posada & Crandall (2001), and run in the ModelGenerator 0.85 software (Keane et al, 2006)
The distribution of the genus varies according to the species, which, for the most part, are distributed over a large part of the Brazilian territory with some coexisting in the same location; M. nigricans is the most widespread
Summary
Myotis Kaup, 1829 is the most representative genus among the Vespertilionidae and has a wide distribution (LaVal, 1973; Koopman, 1993; Ruedi & Mayer, 2001; Simmons, 2005; Tavares et al, 2008). Tate (1941) divided the genus into seven subgenera by grouping species within each subgenus according to their morphological similarity: Selysius, Isotus, Paramyotis, Myotis, Chrysopteron, Leuconoe, and Rickettia. Findley (1972) analyzed 48 external and cranial characters grouping the species only in the three subgenera Selysius, Myotis, and Leuconoe, according to the specimens’ morphological affinities related to different flight and feeding modes. Despite being a broad and diverse genus, Myotis is karyotypically one of the most conserved (Baker & Jordan, 1970); in general, phylogenetic studies classify the genus as being monophyletic (Stadelmann et al, 2007)
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