Rodents of the Afar Triangle (Ethiopia): geographical isolation causes high level of endemism

Bryja, Josef; Meheretu, Yonas; Boratyński, Zbyszek; Zeynu, Ali; Denys, Christiane; Mulualem, Getachew; Welegerima, Kiros; Bryjová, Anna; Kasso, Mohammed; Kostin, Danila S.; Martynov, Aleksey A.; Lavrenchenko, Leonid A.

doi:10.1007/s10531-022-02354-4

Cited by 10 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…awashensis was likely isolated from the rest of M . erythroleucus in the refugium in the margins of the Afar Triangle by the Ethiopian highlands and the large lakes in the bottom of the Great Rift Valley (Bryja et al, 2021). Both species can coexist today in the drier parts of the Ethiopian highlands (Martynov et al, 2020), but this is very likely a secondary contact and no hybrids have been observed yet (A.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mastomys awashensis was described by Lavrenchenko et al (1998), based on genetic data, genital morphology, and karyotypes. This species was originally thought to be endemic to the Awash Valley (type locality), but accumulating genetic data suggest a wider distribution in Ethiopia (Colangelo et al, 2010; Lavrenchenko et al, 2010) and possibly in neighboring countries, for example, Eritrea (reviewed in Bryja et al, 2019, 2021; Martynov et al, 2020). Phylogenomic analysis showed that its most closely related taxon is M .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the contrary, the origin of M. erythroleucus/awashensis is more likely to be in eastern Africa, based on the diversity of haplogroups and the topology of mtDNA tree of M. erythroleucus (see Figures 2 and 3a; also Brouat et al, 2009) by pericentric chromosomal inversions causing reproductive isolation (Britton-Davidian et al, 1995;Dobigny et al, 2010) and ecological shifts of peripheral populations toward wetland habitats (Eiseb et al, 2021). In the last pair, the ancestor of M. awashensis was likely isolated from the rest of M. erythroleucus in the refugium in the margins of the Afar Triangle by the Ethiopian highlands and the large lakes in the bottom of the Great Rift Valley (Bryja et al, 2021).…”

Section: Evolutionary Scenario For the Diversification Of Mastomys In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This species was originally thought to be endemic to the Awash Valley (type locality), but accumulating genetic data suggest a wider distribution in Ethiopia (Colangelo et al, 2010;Lavrenchenko et al, 2010) and possibly in neighboring countries, for example, Eritrea (reviewed in Bryja et al, 2019Bryja et al, , 2021Martynov et al, 2020). Phylogenomic analysis showed that its most closely related taxon is M. erythroleucus (Figure 5), and they are also morphologically most similar, albeit distinguishable (Lavrenchenko et al, 1998).…”

Section: Mastomys Erythroleucus (Temminck 1853) and Mastomys Awashens...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diversity, distribution, and evolutionary history of the most studied African rodents, multimammate mice of the genusMastomys: An overview after a quarter of century of using DNA sequencing

Hánová

Konečný

Mikula

et al. 2021

J Zool Syst Evol Res

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Despite the importance of rodents as agricultural pests and reservoirs of zoonoses, the taxonomy and evolutionary history of many groups is still not sufficiently understood. The genus Mastomys (multimammate mice or rats) comprises abundant and intensively studied rodents, widespread across sub‐Saharan Africa. Here, we used an extensive dataset of mitochondrial DNA markers comprising of nearly 2700 individual sequences from 30 African countries to update the information about the geographical distribution of their genetic diversity. In the next step, we sequenced complete mitogenomes, six nuclear markers, and produced anchored phylogenomic data (355 loci) and, for the first time, sufficiently resolved phylogenetic relationships among all extant Mastomys species and reconstructed their evolutionary history. The results suggest eight species of Mastomys occupying various non‐forested environments. Some species are very widespread (Mastomys natalensis, Mastomys kollmannspergeri, and Mastomys erythroleucus; for the latter we provide first records from Tanzania, thus significantly extending its distribution), while others have their distribution restricted to particular geographical areas (Mastomys coucha in South African region, Mastomys awashensis in Ethiopia, and Mastomys angolensis in Angola and southern DRC) or to particular habitat, that is, wetlands in western (Mastomys huberti) or southwestern (Mastomys shortridgei) Africa. The first split separating M. angolensis (with five pairs of mammae only) from remaining multimammate taxa occurred in mid‐Pliocene, but the most intensive radiation occurred in mid‐Pleistocene and was likely driven by the intensification of climate oscillations. The resolved phylogeny of Mastomys will facilitate their further use as model taxa, for example, in understanding proximate mechanisms of evolution of the multimammate phenotype.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evolutionary Scenario For the Diversification Of Mastomys In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mastomys Erythroleucus (Temminck 1853) and Mastomys Awashens...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Diversity, distribution, and evolutionary history of the most studied African rodents, multimammate mice of the genusMastomys: An overview after a quarter of century of using DNA sequencing

Hánová

Konečný

Mikula

et al. 2021

J Zool Syst Evol Res

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“…In the current study, together with four individuals of A. imbellis from Eastern Ethiopia [used by Bryja et al, 2022], we included two presumably conspecific museum specimens F I G U R E 1 Map of Ammodillus imbellis sampling sites. Green circles denote subgroups used in this study (see the main text for details).…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Position of the ammodile and the origin of Gerbillinae (Rodentia): Out of the Horn of Africa?

et al. 2022

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Gerbillinae is the second largest subfamily (after Murinae) in the Muridae family comprising ~16 genera and more than a hundred species. Phylogenetic relationships among the main taxa of gerbils are still not fully understood. In particular, a major issue is the phylogenetic position of the monotypic genus Ammodillus (endemic to the Horn of Africa), which according to morphological data may be one of the earliest offshoots from the gerbilline stem; however, its precise affiliations have been unknown due to the lack of genetic data. Here, by means of a multilocus dataset including one mitochondrial and five nuclear markers, we for the first time elucidated phylogenetic placement of Ammodillus and provided the most complete tribal phylogeny of Gerbillinae to date. Phylogenetic reconstructions robustly supported Ammodillus as a sister taxon to all other living gerbillines and suggested that the separation of the ammodile lineage dates back to the Middle/Late Miocene boundary (~11.7 Mya). The results are consistent with subdivision of the subfamily into four tribes: monotypic Ammodillini, Gerbillini (including Taterillus), Desmodilliscini (including Pachyuromys) and Gerbillurini. In the light of the new data, we discuss possible scenarios of Gerbillinae origin, highlight Ammodillus as a relatively ancient—albeit morphologically advanced—lineage that has never gained diversity and propose the term ‘ancient singleton’ for a taxon with a persistently low diversification rate.

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Afromontane mosaic vegetation acts as a barrier between small mammals from two savannah biomes in northern Ethiopia

Welegerima,

Meheretu,

Bryja

et al. 2024

Biodivers Conserv

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Despite its biogeographical uniqueness, where two vast savanna regions are separated by the Afromontane mosaic vegetation, there is a signi cant lack of small mammal sampling in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Leveraging all our available data on rodents and shrews in the region, we tested the hypothesis that the Afromontane mosaic vegetation in the highlands acts as a barrier to gene ow between taxa found in the Somali-Masai and Sudanian savanna in the southeast and western lowland parts of the region, respectively. Morphological and DNA sequence analysis con rmed the presence of 23 species of small rodents and shrews in the region. We recorded 18 of these species in the Afromontane mosaic vegetation, seven species in the Sudanian savanna, and four species in the Somali-Masai savanna. Notably, the fauna of Sudanian savanna was strikingly different from that of the Somali-Masai savanna at both intraspeci c and interspeci c level, suggesting northern Ethiopian highlands as very strong biogeographic barrier for taxa adapted to arid lowlands. However, the reported species diversity remains provisional, and additional sampling from unexplored areas is needed. Furthermore, some of the reported taxa, in this study, such as Mus cf. tenellus, Crocidura cf. fuscomurina, Dendromus sp. indet. 2, and Otomys cf. cheesmani, require detailed taxonomic investigation and may represent new species. A robust understanding of the taxonomic diversity and distribution of the small mammals in the region is crucial for effective conservation planning as well as for addressing practical questions related to rodents, such as in public health and pest management.vegetation of the highest mountains in the region (e.g. Mount Tsbet); (iv) Somali-Masai savanna vegetation, limited to the Acacia (= Vachellia)-Commiphora deciduous bushland and thickets from the border of the Afar Region; and (v) Sudanian savanna vegetation, covering most of the western and northwest part of the region, including the Kafata-Humera and Kafta-Sheraro National Park; The eastern highland escarpments (the end of the north-western escarpments of the Ethiopian Great Rift Valley) are the only remnant sites with fragmented Afromontane forest cover left in the region.Despite its biogeographical uniqueness, where two vast savannas (Somali-Masai and Sudanian) are separated east-west by Afromontane mosaic vegetation, there is a signi cant lack of sampling of small mammals in Tigray to investigate the role of the Afromontane mosaic vegetation as a barrier for gene ow (see the sampling gap in Bryja et al. 2019a). In comparison, available data for Tigray are biased towards the Afromontaine mosaic region, crop elds, and, to some extent,

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Rodents of the Afar Triangle (Ethiopia): geographical isolation causes high level of endemism

Cited by 10 publications

References 48 publications

Diversity, distribution, and evolutionary history of the most studied African rodents, multimammate mice of the genusMastomys: An overview after a quarter of century of using DNA sequencing

Diversity, distribution, and evolutionary history of the most studied African rodents, multimammate mice of the genusMastomys: An overview after a quarter of century of using DNA sequencing

Position of the ammodile and the origin of Gerbillinae (Rodentia): Out of the Horn of Africa?

Afromontane mosaic vegetation acts as a barrier between small mammals from two savannah biomes in northern Ethiopia

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