Pteronotus davyi, Davy's naked-backed bat, is a tropical bat whose current distribution in Mexico covers the watersheds of the Pacific and the Gulf c

One of the major challenges to understanding the evolution of Neotropical bats concerns our capacity to successfully scrutinize phylogenetic patterns associated with cases of cryptic species complexes. In this study Pteronotus parnellii is examined as a selected example of a known lineage of mormoopid bat that potentially contains several cryptic species. A samples of 452 individuals from 83 different localities, essentially covering its entire mainland distribution, was evaluated using two genetic markers: COI (mitochondrial) and DBY (nuclear) genes. The findings of this study strongly support the hypothesis of high genetic variability and identify at least six lineages within P. parnellii, some of which appear to be cryptic species.

Wagner's mustached bat (Pteronotus personatus) is an insectivorous bat distributed throughout America from Mexico to Brazil, which inhabits a range of habitats from rain forests to dry deciduous forests. There are two currently recognized species within the P. personatus complex, for which we examined 235 cytochrome oxidase I (COI) sequences and 138 cytochrome b (Cytb) sequences in order to explore its genetic variation in Mexico as well as in Central and South America. Our results reveal considerable differences in the genetic structure inside this species complex, indicating five genetic lineages: 1) Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Pacific coastal plain to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 2) Southeastern Mexico, 3) Guatemala, 4) Guyana and Suriname-COI/Guyana and Venezuela-Cytb, and 5) Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. In addition, we used the isolation-with-migration coalescent method to estimate divergence times. The results indicate that vicariant events occurred roughly 1,624,000–2,450,000 years...

Two sibling bare-backed bat species (Pteronotus fulvus and P. gymnonotus) have been traditionally differentiated by their size. However, intermediate specimens between the two species have been found in sympatric populations along southern Mexico and it has been suggested that they may be the outcome of a hybridization process between the two species. We used one mitochondrial (COI), three nuclear markers (PRKCL, STAT5A and RAG2) and 13 microsatellites to explore the evolutionary relationships between these two species and elucidate whether the intermediate morphotypes correspond to hybrid individuals. These markers have been analyzed in sympatric and allopatric populations of the two species plus the closely related species Pteronotus davyi. We confirmed the species-level differentiation of the three lineages (P. fulvus, P. davyi and P. gymnonotus), but the phylogenetic hypotheses suggested by the nuclear and mitochondrial markers were discordant. We confirm that the discordance between markers is due to genetic introgression through the mitochondrial capture of P. fulvus in P. gymnonotus populations. Such introgression was found in all P. gymnonotus specimens across its sympatric distribution range (Mexico to Costa Rica) and is related to expansion/retraction species distribution pulses associated with changes in forest distribution during the Quaternary climate cycles. Microsatellite analyses showed contemporary genetic contact between the two sympatric species and 3.0% of the samples studied were identified as hybrids. In conclusion, we found a historical and asymmetric genetic introgression (through mitochondrial capture) of P. fulvus into P. gymnonotus in Mexico and Central America and a limited contemporary gene exchange between the two species. However, no relationship was found between hybridization and the intermediate-sized specimens from southern Mexico, which might likely result from a clinal variation with latitude. These results confirm the need for caution when using forearm size to identify these species in the field and when differentiating them in the laboratory based on mitochondrial DNA alone.

Male genitalia morphology in Myrmeleontidae has traditionally been insufficiently studied, although it has received increased attention for its diagnostic value in recent times. A neutral terminology has generally been applied in standard taxonomic practice, yet knowledge of an equivalent and stable terminology across taxa based on comparative morphology has been missing. Herein a detailed comparative morphology study with examples from most tribes within Myrmeleontidae, including owlflies (Ascalaphinae), attempts to relate external and internal genital structures based on a proposed groundplan for Neuroptera and Myrmeleontidae. We contend that a groundplan based on 10 abdominal segments, plus vestigial structures from an 11th segment, coherently depicts structural components across myrmeleontid taxa. A gonarcus, an element of Neuropterida amply referred in Neuroptera, is supported to represent the pair of abdominal appendages of segment X medially fused, with gonocoxite and gonostylus components. In most myrmeleontid taxa, basal (gonocoxites) and distal (gonostyli) components separate, with gonostyli positioned posteriorly with respect to gonocoxites, still united with translucent, lightly sclerotized tissue, forming a more or less conical structure, a proposed synapomorphy for the family. Ninth gonostyli are generally reduced (pulvini) and have migrated close to the base of gonarcus (10th gonocoxites). A pelta, also a potential synapomorphy for Myrmeleontidae, derives from paired setose surfaces of the 10th gonostyli, medially positioned (still evident in Bubopsis). Three structural types of gonarcus are diagnosed for illustrative purposes, as they may represent convergent constructs.