Phylogenetic relationships and amino acid substitutions in auditory sensory perception-related genes among selected mammalian species, including echolocating lineages and the blind mole rat. Species capable of echolocation are highlighted in magenta, while the blind mole rat lineage is shown in green. For each species, amino acid substitutions in four key auditory sensory perception-related proteins (KCNQ4, Prestin, Cdh23, and Otof) are indicated. Substitutions observed in the blind mole rat , and those that are shared between the blind mole rat and at least one echolocating species are highlighted with a green background.(The phylogenetic tree shown in the figure represents an illustrative summary of the ML tree based on Kcnq4 gene sequences (see Suppl. material 1: fig. S1A for the full tree with bootstrap values and branch lengths)).