title: Hear, hear: the convergent evolution of echolocation in bats?
abstract: The evolutionary history of laryngeal echolocation is controversial, and little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie this sense. A recent paper by Li and colleagues is one of the first studies to identify and sequence a gene involved in echolocation in bats -Prestin, the so-called mammalian hearing gene. Phylogenetic analyses show evidence for positive selection acting on this gene in the echolocating lineages and support the convergent evolution of laryngeal echolocation in bats.
authors.affiliation: UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. emma.teeling@ucd.ie
authors.forename: Emma C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Teeling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D004455:Echolocation / Q000502:physiology*; D006309:Hearing / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology