Bat Diversity, Systematics, Taxonomy, and Phylogeny
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Mammals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 321
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bats (Chiroptera) are the second largest mammalian order, with >1400 species. They exhibit multiple adaptive characteristics, including flight, echolocation, diverse diets, extreme longevity and virus tolerance due to their specialized immune system. These unique adaptations allow bats to occupy various ecological niches across the world. To understand the molecular basis underlying these unique adaptations, an accurate phylogeny is essential. However, phylogenetic conflicts were found in bats at different levels (e.g., sub-order, superfamily, family and sub-family). These conflicts might be caused by multiple biological (e.g., incomplete lineage sorting and introgression) and/or analytical factors (e.g., taxon and locus sampling). To generate reliable phylogenetic relationships, methods of multispecies coalescent (MSC) and multispecies network (MSN) will be needed based on genome-wide nuclear data. In addition, chromosome information (e.g., chromosomal rearrangements) and chromosome-scale gene linkage (synteny) can also be used to resolve phylogenetic conflicts, particularly for deep phylogenetic relationships.
This Special Issue aims to resolve the phylogeny of bats at different levels and explore the possible factors causing phylogenetic conflicts. We welcome original research articles and reviews on any aspects of the diversity, phylogeny and evolution of bats, including (but not limited to) the following: (1) phylogeny of bat species in each genus, family and whole Chiroptera with mitochondrial and/or nuclear genetic/genomic markers; (2) phylogeography of a focal bat species at a global or regional scale; and (3) chromosome diversity and evolution in bats, and their implications for phylogeny.
Dr. Xiuguang Mao
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Chiroptera
- systematics
- phylogenetics
- phylogeography
- evolution
- mito-nuclear discordance
- incomplete lineage sorting
- introgressive hybridization
- speciation
- chromosome rearrangements
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