COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF INSECTIVOROUS BATS IN THE PALAEOTROPICS AND NEOTROPICS

The most diverse known communities of insectivorous bats in the Palaeo tropics and Neotropics are similar in alpha diversity (number of speci es). However, they show distinct differences with respect to wing morp hology and the echolocation behaviour of their component species. In t he Palaeotropics, most bat families are clearly separated in wing morp hospace. The morphological niche of Rhinolophbidae is vacant in the Ne otropics, but primitive echolocators using sound primarily for scannin g the environment rather than for prey capture are much more frequent there than in the Palaeotropics. In our opinion, a large portion of th is difference can be traced to the different evolutionary histories of the respective communities. Bat families of different geographical or igin are involved and their foraging styles obviously evolved differen tly in the Old and New World.