- Title
- Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)
- Creator
- Taylor, Peter J, Kearney, Theresa, Dalton, Desire L, Chakona, Gamuchirai, Kelly, Christopher M R, Barker, Nigel P
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425481
- Identifier
- vital:72249
- 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, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (21 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 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, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society volume 189 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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Collections
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)
SDG 13. Climate Action
RU Department of Botany
RU Department of Education
SDG 15. Life On Land
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