Re: bats

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

Original Message by Jaime A. Headden
Saturday, 28 December 2002 06:50

> <two: this means sympatric overlapping of population dynamics.>
>
>   Misuse of the term "sympatric", which involves relationship, not
> ecology.

"Sympatric" refers to neither nor. Instead it's from Greek syn, together, and 
Latin patria, fatherland -- species that live in the same area are sympatric.

> [...] there is no evidence that bats were originally short-tailed, and
> in fact all other sister groups [basal archontans like colugos,
> scandentians, and primatomorphans] for bats are long tailed, and early
> fossil bats also have fairly long tails),

*Icaronycteris* has a rather long tail, but very few vertebrae in it. The 
recent Rhinopomatidae have tails that make up half their total lengths, which 
should be derived. -- Primatomorpha, both morphologically and molecularly, 
includes Dermoptera and Primates (and Plesiadapiformes). Molecules don't find 
Archonta, instead

Laurasiatheria
  |--Eulipotyphla (shrews, moles, hedgehogs)
  `--Scrotifera
       |--Chiroptera
       `--Fereuungulata
            |--Cetartiodactyla
            |--Perissodactyla
            `--Ferae
                 |--Carnivora
                 `--Pholidota

The name Scrotifera suggests that there are one or two potential 
morphological synapomorphies... so we can probably wait for a paper with a 
reconciliation, as is _slowly_ happening with Afrotheria.