Reassessment of the Taxonomic Borders Within Pipistrellus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae, Pipistrellini)

Based on an integrative approach including molecular genetics and morphological data, the relationships of supraspecific taxa in the tribe Pipistrellini were considered. Based on the sequences of one mitochondrial (cytb) and four nuclear (rag2, dmp1, apob and thy) markers, phylogenetic relationships between representatives of the tribe and a number of other Vespertilioninae genera used as multiple outgroups were reconstructed. Also, 22 metric characters of the skull and teeth were analyzed. Previous indications of the paraphyly of the genus Pipistrellus relative to the genera Nyctalus and Glischropus, its distinct division into “western” and “eastern” clades, as well as the isolated position of P. nathusii among the “western” clade were all confirmed. Morphological data (both craniometry and some qualitative features of the teeth structure and penial bone proportions) also supported the special status of P. nathusii. In the “eastern” clade, the most basal position was occupied, contrary to expectations, not by the morphologically divergent P. stenopterus, but by P. abramus. Its isolated position was also supported by morphometric data and the structure of the penial bone. Based on these data, we propose to allocate P. nathusii into a separate subgenus, for which the name Nannugo Kolenati could be used as valid, with P. nathusii being fixed as its type species. We propose to consider the “eastern” clade of pipistrelles as a separate genus Alionoctula Kruskop, Solovyeva and Kaznadzey, within which we distinguish three species groups, namely “abramus”, “javanicus” and “stenopterus”. Thus, we accept the presence of eight genera in the tribe Pipistrellini: Pipistrellus, Nyctalus, Vansonia, Alionoctula, Glischropus, Scotozous and Scotoecus. A number of species native to Africa and Australasia were not included in the present analysis due to the lack of available collection specimens and published genetic sequences. Further study of these species may clarify the taxonomic boundaries we have proposed.