Familial Affinity of Tomopeas ravus (Chiroptera) Based on Protein Electrophoretic and Cytochrome b Sequence Data

Abstract

Analyses of protein electrophoretic and mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence data support association of Tomopeas ravus with the chiropteran family Molossidae. Although analyses of protein electrophoretic data present no clear placement of Tomopeas within the Molossidae, analyses of the sequence data support the recognition of Tomopeas as a basal and phylogenetically distant member of Molossidae. As a result of these analyses, we present a new taxonomic placement of this distinctive and taxonomically problematic bat.