Molecular phylogenetics of mouse opossums: new findings on the phylogeny of Thylamys (Didelphimorphia,Didelphidae) |
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| Authors: | R Eduardo Palma Dusan Boric‐Bargetto J Pablo Jayat David A Flores Horacio Zeballos Víctor Pacheco Ricardo A Cancino Fernando D Alfaro Enrique Rodríguez‐Serrano Ulyses F J Pardiñas |
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| Institution: | 1. Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, , Santiago, 6513677 Chile;2. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Concepción, , Santiago, Chile;3. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Instituto de Ecología Regional (IER), Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, , Tucumán, Argentina;4. CONICET, División Mastozoología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, , Buenos Aires, Argentina;5. Centro de Investigación para la Promoción de los Pueblos, , Arequipa, Perú;6. Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, , Lima, Lima 14 Peru;7. Centro Nacional Patagónico, , Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | The mouse opossums of the genus Thylamys constitute a group of species mainly adapted to open xeric‐like habitats and restricted to the southern portion of South America. We used molecular data (mitochondrial and nuclear sequences) to evaluate the phylogenetic and biogeographical relationships of all currently known living species of the genus, recognizing a new taxon from the middle and high elevations of the Peruvian Andes and evaluating the phylogenetic structuring within T. pallidior and T. elegans, as well as the validity of T. sponsorius, T. cinderella and T. tatei, and the haplogroups recognized within T. pusillus. Our results confirm the monophyly of the genus and that the Caatinga and the Cerrado inhabitants Thylamys karimii and T. velutinus are the most basal species in the radiation of Thylamys. We also calibrated a molecular clock which hypothesized a time of origin of the genus of about 24 My, with most species differentiating in middle and late Miocene and Plio‐Pleistocene times of South America. |
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