Evolution and phylogenetic relationships in subterranean rodents of the Ctenomys mendocinus species complex: Effects of Late Quaternary landscape changes of Central Argentina

Mapelli, Fernando J.; Mora, Matías S.; Lancia, Juan Pablo; Fernandez, Maria Jimena Gomez; Mirol, Patricia M.; Kittlein, Marcelo J.

doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2017.08.002

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…In this context, habitat configuration of these sampling locations in Reserva Provincial Parque Luro, Anguil, Macachín, and Villa Maza (Figure 1) are very similar to that observed in other species belonging to the mendocinus group, which is characterized mainly by sandy and more arid lands, with low vegetation cover (Mapelli et al, 2017), compared to harder and vegetated soils preferred by individuals of coastal and continental species of the talarum group (Vassallo, 1998;Busch et al, 2000;Cutrera et al, 2006Cutrera et al, , 2010Mora et al, 2013).…”

Section: Populations Of Mendocinus Groupsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…Additionally, tissue samples from C. talarum, C. azarae, C. porteousi, C. australis, and C. "chasiquensis" were used. Those samples were obtained from different previous published studies (Mora et al, 2006(Mora et al, , 2007(Mora et al, , 2013(Mora et al, , 2016Mapelli et al, 2012Mapelli et al, , 2017…”

Section: Sampling Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Populations Of Mendocinus Groupmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ctenomys azarae and C. porteousi, together with C. australis, C. flamarioni Travi, 1981, C. mendocinus Philippi, 1869, and C. rionegrensis Langguth and Abella, 1970 are included in the C. mendocinus species group (Massarini et al, 1991;D'Elía et al, 1999;Parada et al, 2011) or C. mendocinus species complex (Mapelli et al, 2017). Even though the distinction of C. azarae and C. porteousi from C. mendocinus has been largely questioned in the literature, some advances have been made on the subject in relation to phylogenetic and phylogeographic aspects (Parada et al, 2011;Mapelli et al, 2017). In fact, results of the phylogenetic reconstructions made by Mapelli et al (2017) show the presence of three major clades into the C. mendocinus species complex, which do not correspond to the classically proposed taxonomy or the distributional limits previously assumed for many of those species.…”

Section: Populations Of Mendocinus Groupmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, the phylogenetic relationships between species and groups within the genus need an exhaustive reevaluation with novel morphological and molecular information; mainly for those groups considered of recent formation (see Mirol et al, 2010;Gómez Fernández et al, 2012;Caraballo et al, 2016;Mapelli et al, 2017). Parada et al (2011) have identified eight major phylogenetic groups of species at the base of the Ctenomys tree (boliviensis, frater, mendocinus, opimus, magellanicus, talarum, torquatus, and tucumanus), most of them proposed previously based on external and internal morphology, karyology, and mitochondrial DNA analysis (see also Gardner et al, 2014;De Santi et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Redefining the Distributional Boundaries and Phylogenetic Relationships for Ctenomids From Central Argentina

et al. 2021

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With about 68 recognized living species, subterranean rodents of the genus Ctenomys are found in a multiplicity of habitats, from the dunes of the Atlantic coast to the Andes Mountains, including environments ranging from humid steppes of Pampas to the dry deserts of Chaco region. However, this genus needs an exhaustive reevaluation of its systematic and phylogenetic relationships regarding the different groups that compose it. This knowledge is essential to propose biodiversity conservation strategies both at species level and at higher hierarchical levels. In order to clarify the taxonomy and the recent evolutionary history from populations of Ctenomys in the Pampas region, Argentina, phylogenetic relationships among them were evaluated using mitochondrial DNA sequences: gene encoding cytochrome b protein (1,140 bp) and the non-coding D-loop region (434 bp). To infer the divergence times inside the Ctenomys clade, a Bayesian calibrate tree using fossil remains data from different families within Caviomorpha was performed at first. Secondly, that calibration data was used as priors in a new Bayesian phylogenetic inference within the genus Ctenomys. This phylogenetic tree emphasized on species currently distributed on the Pampas region, more precisely considering both the talarum and mendocinus groups. Bayesian inferences (BI) were integrated with the results of a Maximum Likelihood approach (ML). Based on these results, the distributional limits of the mendocinus and talarum groups appear to be related to the physiognomy of the Pampas region soils. On the other hand, the validity of C. pundti complex as a differentiated species of C. talarum is debated. According to previous evidence from morphological and chromosomal studies, these results show a very low divergence between those species that originally were classified within the talarum group. Mitochondrial DNA sequences from populations associated with these putative species have not recovered as reciprocal monophyletic groups in the phylogenetic analyses. In conclusion, C. talarum and C. pundti complex might be considered as the same biological species, or lineages going through a recent or incipient differentiation process. The results obtained in this study have important implications for conservation policies and practices, since both species are currently categorized as Vulnerable and Endangered, respectively.

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