So, in the previous article we introduced vesper bats (sensu lato) as a whole, covered the idea that they're pretty diverse in morphology and behaviour, and also looked quickly at where they seem to fit within the bat family tree as a whole. As you'd predict for a diverse group of over 400 species, there have been numerous attempts to group these many species into clades, and to work out the patterns of evolution within the group. A large number of 'subfamilies' and 'tribes' have been named for different assemblages of vesper bat species, though a comparatively small number of useful characters - and a great difference of opinion as to which characters are most informative - has resulted in quite different classifications. You'll definitely want to skip this whole article if identifying clades and phylogenetic branching patterns bores you to tears [the adjacent cladogram is deliberately shown as annoyingly small - a larger version is below]. Right, off we go...
