Editing Megabat (section)

====Biogeography====
[[File:Oceania UN Geoscheme - Map of Melanesia cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=A map of Oceania with the islands of Melanesia highlighted in pink.|Melanesia, where many megabat subfamilies are likely to have originated]]
The family Pteropodidae likely originated in [[Australasia]] based on [[biogeography|biogeographic reconstructions]].<ref name="Almeida 2016"/> Other biogeographic analyses have suggested that the [[Melanesia]]n Islands, including [[New Guinea]], are a plausible candidate for the origin of most megabat subfamilies, with the exception of Cynopterinae;<ref name="Almeida 2011">{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-11-281|pmid=21961908|pmc=3199269|title=Evolutionary relationships of the old world fruit bats (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae): Another star phylogeny?|journal=[[BMC Evolutionary Biology]]|volume=11|page=281|year=2011|last1=Almeida|first1=F. C.| last2=Giannini|first2=N. P.|last3=Desalle|first3=R.|last4=Simmons|first4=N. B. |issue=1 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2011BMCEE..11..281A }}</ref> the cynopterines likely originated on the [[Sunda Shelf]] based on results of a Weighted Ancestral Area Analysis of six nuclear and mitochondrial genes.<ref name="Almeida 2009">{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2009.07.035|pmid=19660560|title=The phylogenetic relationships of cynopterine fruit bats (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae: Cynopterinae)|journal=[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]]|volume=53|issue=3|pages=772–783|year=2009|last1=Almeida|first1=F. C.|last2=Giannini|first2=N. P.|last3=Desalle|first3=Rob|last4=Simmons|first4=N. B.|hdl=11336/74530|hdl-access=free}}</ref> From these regions, pteropodids colonized other areas, including continental Asia and Africa. Megabats reached Africa in at least four distinct events. The four proposed events are represented by (1) ''[[Scotonycteris]]'', (2) ''[[Rousettus]]'', (3) Scotonycterini, and (4) the "endemic Africa clade", which includes Stenonycterini, Plerotini, Myonycterini, and Epomophorini, according to a 2016 study. It is unknown when megabats reached Africa, but several tribes (Scotonycterini, Stenonycterini, Plerotini, Myonycterini, and Epomophorini) were present by the [[Late Miocene]]. How megabats reached Africa is also unknown. It has been proposed that they could have arrived via the [[Middle East]] before it became more arid at the end of the Miocene. Conversely, they could have reached the continent via the [[Gomphotherium land bridge]], which connected Africa and the [[Arabian Peninsula]] to [[Eurasia]]. The genus ''Pteropus'' (flying foxes), which is not found on mainland Africa, is proposed to have dispersed from Melanesia via [[island hopping]] across the [[Indian Ocean]];<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2009.02.010|pmid=19249376|title=Multiple colonisations of the western Indian Ocean by Pteropus fruit bats (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae): The furthest islands were colonised first|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=51|issue=2|pages=294–303|year=2009|last1=O'Brien|first1=J.|last2=Mariani|first2=C.|last3=Olson|first3=L.|last4=Russell|first4=A. L.|last5=Say|first5=L.|last6=Yoder|first6=A. D.|last7=Hayden|first7=T. J.|bibcode=2009MolPE..51..294O }}</ref> this is less likely for other megabat genera, which have smaller body sizes and thus have more limited flight capabilities.<ref name="Almeida 2016"/>