MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS OF STENODERMATINI BAT GENERA - CONGRUENCE OF DATA FROM NUCLEAR AND MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA

Within the tribe Stenodermatini the systematics of the complex of spec ies allied with the genus Artibeus has generated several alternative p hylogenetic hypotheses. The most recent treatment recognized four gene ra (Artibeus, Dermanura, Enchisthenes, and Koopmania) and suggested th at the most recent common ancestor of these four genera would include the common ancestor of all other currently recognized Stenodermatini g enera except Sturnira. To test this hypothesis, we examined an EcoRI-d efined nuclear satellite DNA repeat and 402 bp of DNA sequence variati on from the, mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Phylogenetic conclusions based on Southern blot analyses, in situ hybridization, and mitochond rial DNA sequence data indicate that Enchisthenes is not closely relat ed to Dermanura, Artibeus, or Koopmania and that Dermanura, Artibeus, and Koopmania shared a common ancestor after diverging from the remain der of the Stenodermatini. If our conclusions are correct, then justif ication for recognizing Dermanura and Koopmania as generically distinc t from Artibeus must be based on the magnitude of difference that dist inguishes each rather than on the conclusion that to place them as con generic with Artibeus creates a paraphyletic taxon.