re: origin of bats/reply to T.M. Keesey

[David Peters <davidpeters@att.net>]

T. M. Keesey wrote:

I think he meant to put a comma between "civets" and the rest, since
*none* of those genera are viverrid. _Protictis_ is a stem-carnivoran
and _Ptilocercus_ is a tupaiid (tree shrew).

If you include only those taxa and bats, the topology should be:
(_Ptilocercus_, (_Chiroptera_, (_Protictis_, (_Nandinia_,
_Viverridae_)))). Odd choice of taxa....
-- 
T. Michael Keesey
Actually, no, Mike.
Ptilocercus (the pen-tailed tree shrew) actually nests closer to bats, 
demopterans, Nandinia and Proticitis than to Tupaia, given those opportunities. 
Try it yourself.

I chose these taxa, and a number of others, because 1) these had been tested 
before or 2) these had not been tested before but seemed to have possibilities 
due to their primitive characteristics, their arboreal characteristics, or some 
bat-like morphology. 

Itâs once again like pterosaurs and other enigmas. You canât find sisters 
in the conventional/ traditional places, so I looked elsewhere, tested others 
and found better sisters than prior candidates. 

David Peters


davidpeters@att.net