Karyotype, evolution and phylogenetic reconstruction in Micronycterinae bats with implications for the ancestral karyotype of Phyllostomidae.

We herein confirm that karyotypic variability is present in subfamily Micronycterinae. We further report intraspecific variation and describe a new cytotype in M. megalotis. The cytogenetic data show that this group typically has large blocks of interstitial telomeric sequences that do not appear to be correlated with chromosomal rearrangement events. Phylogenetic analysis using chromosome data recovered the basal position for Micronycterinae, but did not demonstrate that it is a monophyletic lineage, due to the absence of common chromosomal synapomorphy between the genera. These findings may be related to an increase in the rate of chromosomal evolution during the time period that separates Lampronycteris from Micronycteris.