Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)

Taylor, Peter J; Kearney, Theresa; Dalton, Desire L; Chakona, Gamuchirai; Kelly, Christopher M R; Barker, Nigel P

Title: Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)
Creator: Taylor, Peter J
Creator: Kearney, Theresa
Creator: Dalton, Desire L
Creator: Chakona, Gamuchirai
Creator: Kelly, Christopher M R
Creator: Barker, Nigel P
Subject: To be catalogued
Date Issued: 2020
Date: 2020
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453158
Identifier: vital:75227
Identifier: xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz134"
Description: Mitochondrial DNA sequences (1137 bp) of the cytochrome b gene and craniodental and craniometric data were used to investigate the evolutionary relationships of six putative rodent taxa of Otomys (family Muridae: subfamily Murinae: tribe Otomyini) co-occurring in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Phylogenetic analysis of 20 new sequences together with craniodental and craniometric characters of 94 adult skulls reveal the existence of a unique lineage of Otomys cf. karoensis (named herein Otomys willani sp. nov.) from the Sneeuberg Centre of Floristic Endemism in the southern Drakensberg Mountain Range. Craniometric analysis distinguished O. karoensis from O. willani and identified a further four localities in the range of the latter species. We document southern range extensions of both Sloggett’s ice rat, Otomys sloggetti, and the vlei rat Otomys auratus to the Sneeuberg Mountain Range, in addition to appreciable genetic divergence between Sneeuberg and southern and central Drakensberg populations of O. sloggetti. Our results demonstrate parallel patterns of cryptic speciation in two co-occurring species complexes (Otomys irroratus s.l. and O. karoensis s.l.) associated closely with the boundaries of biomes (fynbos vs. grassland biomes) and geological formations (Cape Fold Belt vs. Great Escarpment).
Format: computer
Format: online resource
Format: application/pdf
Format: 1 online resource (21 pages)
Format: pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Language: English
Relation: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Relation: Taylor, P.J., Kearney, T., Dalton, D.L., Chakona, G., Kelly, C.M. and Barker, N.P., 2020. Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 189(3), pp.1046-1066
Relation: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society volume 183 number 3 p. 1046 2020 1096-3642
Rights: Publisher
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Oxford Academic Journals Open Access Policy Statement (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access)
Rights: Closed Access

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Kelly, Christopher M R (Dr)

Barker, Nigel Paul (Dr)

Chakona, Gamucharai (Dr)

RU DST/NRF SARChI for Global Change Social Learning Systems Development: Transformative Learning and Green Skills Learning (ELRC)

RU Department of Education

RU Department of Botany

SDG 04. Quality Education

SDG 15. Life On Land

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