Molecular data on the CO1 and beta fibrinogen gene in the evolutionary relationships of the mastiff bat (Chiroptera, Molossidae, Molossus)

Abstract

Molossus is one of the most diverse genera of free-tailed bats in the pantropical family Molossidae and occurs though all the Neotropics. Nevertheless, the taxonomy and phylogeny of this group is poorly understood. Here, we present the data on evolutionary relationships of Molossus based on DNA barcodes of COI gene from 346 specimens of Molossus and its sister genus Promops and another New World molossid Eumops. Of these specimens, 50 are new sequences and 296 were obtained from GenBank. In addition, the nuclear gene beta fibrinogen was sequenced from a subset of 35 specimens. These data provide the basis for further exploration and understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Molossus (Loureiro et al., 2018) [1]. Keywords: Molossidae, Phylogenetics, Neotropics, Evolution