Phylogeny and biogeography of the Petaurista philippensis complex (Rodentia: Sciuridae), inter- and intraspecific relationships inferred from molecular and morphometric analysis

Cranial morphometric study of four giant flying squirrels (<I>Petaurista</I>) (Rodentia: Sciuridae) from China

“…One contentious issue regarding the Chinese Petaurista is the taxonomic status of P. yunanensis, P. philippensis, P. hainana, and the populations of P. petaurista in China, which have long been controversial (Corbet & Hill, 1992;Ellerman, 1940;Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1950;Hoffmann et al, 1993;Huang et 1995; Oshida et al, 2000aOshida et al, , 2000bThorington & Hoffmann, 2005;Wang, 2003;Yu et al, 2006). By using a considerably extended set of morphometrical characters (26 cranial variables) and applying multivariate morphometric analyses, results of the present study confirmed the significant craniological differences in P. petaurista, P. hainana, P. yunanensis, and P. philippensis, with P. petaurista having the most pronounced morphological variations, particularly in metrical components of cranial and body size.…”

“…Thorington & Hoffmann (2005) treated all Petaurista forms as eight valid species instead of nine as suggested by Corbet & Hill (1992), but they accepted the specific validity of P. philippensis and the subspecies status of P. yunanensis and P. hainana. Patterns of genetic variations observed in the complex of P. philippensis based on cytochrome b genes indicated that P. hainana, P. albiventer, and P. yunanensis could be distinct species (Yu et al, 2006). Some forms included in P. philippensis warranted separate specific rank based on molecular data (Oshida et al, 2000a, b;Yu et al, 2006), but without further evidence from morphometric data, much remains to be done to ascertain conclusively these specific conclusions.…”

A molecular phylogenetic study of Hylopetes (Rodentia: Sciuridae) inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene

“…During the glacial and inter-glacial periods of the Pliocene and the further uplift of the Himalayas, Eoglaucomys migrated to the western extreme of the great Himalayan chain. The present sympatric distributions of Eoglaucomys with Eupetaurus and Petaurista in the western Himalayan regions owe much to the major climatic changes in the late Pleistocene and the physical barriers to migration (Yu et al 2004(Yu et al , 2006. Our molecularclock tree also indicated that the divergence of Hylopetes took place in the latest Miocene and earliest Pliocene, and then gave rise to different lineages, including the Indochinese and the Sundaic groups.…”

“…Using cytochrome-b gene, researchers have successfully determined the interspecific phylogeny in a wide range of mammalian taxa, such as the phylogenetic relationships of some squirrels and flying squirrels (Arbogast 1999;Mercer & Roth 2003;Herron et al 2004;Oshida et al 2000Oshida et al , 2004Yu et al 2004Yu et al , 2006. However, the interconnected montane ecosystems associated with flying squirrels became fragmented into patterns of disjunctive distribution due to recent logging, overhunting and overgrazing, and opportunities for investigating flying squirrels have been limited to studying specimens represented in museums and academic institutes.…”

Systematic Review of Endemic Sulawesi Squirrels (Rodentia, Sciuridae), with Descriptions of New Species of Associated Sucking Lice (Insecta, Anoplura), and Phylogenetic and Zoogeographic Assessments of Sciurid Lice

“…Some examples of relatively recent research results producing fresh insights into phylogenetic relationships within and among genera cover flying squirrels (Oshida et al, 2000a(Oshida et al, , 2000bOshida et al, 2001a;Thorington et al, 2002;Yu et al, 2004Yu et al, , 2006Arbogast, 2007); Japanese species of Sciuridae (Oshida et al, 1996); species of Sciurus (Oshida and Masuda, 2000), Callosciurus (Oshida et al, 2001b), and Dremomys (Li et al, 2008); ground squirrels (Harrison et al, 2003;Herron et al, 2004;Helgen et al, 2009); marmots (Steppan et al, 1999); and chipmunks (Banbury and Spicer, 2007).…”