Revisão sistemática de Chiroderma Peters, 1860 e filogenia de Vampyressina Baker et al. 2016 (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

Bats of genus Chiroderma (Phyllostomidae) are distributed from western Mexico to southern Brazil. The species of Chiroderma feed mainly on fruits and seeds of figs, Ficus spp. (Moraceae). The clade that Chiroderma is nested, subtribe Vampyressina, currently includes seven genera of predominantly frugivorous bats: Chiroderma, Mesophylla, Platyrrhinus, Uroderma, Vampyressa, Vampyriscus e Vampyrodes. To date, Chiroderma has not been taxonomically revised using morphological and molecular data, and a taxonomically broad sampling. Similarly, no study aimed at clarifying the phylogenetic relationships among the species of Vampyressina using a combined morphological and molecular dataset. Thus, the two objectives of this thesis were: (1) review the taxonomy of Chiroderma, and (2) to carry out a phylogenetic analysis of subtribe Vampyressina. In chapter 1, I present a systematic review of Chiroderma using two mitochondrial markers (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and cytochrome b [CYTB]), two nuclear markers (recombination activating gene 2 [RAG] and DEAD box RNA helicase), and morphological data. Based on phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML), coalescence-based species delimitation tests, and morphological diagnoses, I recognize seven species in Chiroderma: C. scopaeum, C. salvini, C. improvisum, C. villosum (including C. v. jesupi), C. doriae (including C. d. vizottoi), C. trinitatum, and C. gorgasi. In chapter 2, I conducted phylogenetic analyses of Vampyressina, using BI and ML, including 35 of the 42 currently recognized species and using sequences of a mitochondrial (CYTB) and four nuclear markers (brain-derived neurotrophic factor, intron of the thyroid stimulating hormone gene, beta subunit, the 3′-untranslated region of phospholipase C beta 4, and RAG2), and 81 morphological characters. BI analyses recovered the following topology: (Uroderma ((Platyrrhinus + Vampyrodes) ((Chiroderma + Vampyriscus) (Mesophylla + Vampyressa)))). On the BI phylogeny, I made biogeographical inferences and explored scenarios of phenotypic evolution. The biogeographical analysis suggested that dispersal was more important than vicariant events, to explain the geographic distribution of Vampyressina. Evolution of the body size and of cranio-dental characteristics in the seven Vampyressina genera suggest an early segregation at the base of the clade, which we associate with niche partitioning. Based on the morphological and biogeographic data obtained, I propose a genus-level taxonomy of Vampyressina that recognizes two subgenera in genus Vampyriscus and three subgenera in Vampyressa, two of which are described in this study.