Cargando…

Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.

Previous studies of African mole-rats of the genera Heliophobius and Fukomys (Bathyergidae) in the regions of East and south central Africa have revealed a diversity of species and vicariant populations, with patterns of distribution having been influenced by the geological process of rifting and ch...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Faulkes, Chris G., Mgode, Georgies F., Archer, Elizabeth K., Bennett, Nigel C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5410139/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28462027
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3214
_version_ 1783232615086555136
author Faulkes, Chris G.
Mgode, Georgies F.
Archer, Elizabeth K.
Bennett, Nigel C.
author_facet Faulkes, Chris G.
Mgode, Georgies F.
Archer, Elizabeth K.
Bennett, Nigel C.
author_sort Faulkes, Chris G.
collection PubMed
description Previous studies of African mole-rats of the genera Heliophobius and Fukomys (Bathyergidae) in the regions of East and south central Africa have revealed a diversity of species and vicariant populations, with patterns of distribution having been influenced by the geological process of rifting and changing patterns of drainage of major river systems. This has resulted in most of the extant members of the genus Fukomys being distributed west of the main Rift Valley. However, a small number of isolated populations are known to occur east of the African Rift Valley in Tanzania, where Heliophobius is the most common bathyergid rodent. We conducted morphological, craniometric and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) sequences of two allopatric populations of Tanzanian mole-rats (genus Fukomys) at Ujiji and around Mount Hanang, in comparison with both geographically adjacent and more distant populations of Fukomys. Our results reveal two distinct evolutionary lineages, forming clades that constitute previously unnamed species. Here, we formally describe and designate these new species F. livingstoni and F. hanangensis respectively. Molecular clock-based estimates of divergence times, together with maximum likelihood inference of biogeographic range evolution, offers strong support for the hypothesis that vicariance in the Western Rift Valley and the drainage patterns of major river systems has subdivided populations of mole-rats. More recent climatic changes and tectonic activity in the “Mbeya triple junction” and Rungwe volcanic province between Lakes Rukwa and Nyasa have played a role in further isolation of these extra-limital populations of Fukomys in Tanzania.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5410139
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher PeerJ Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-54101392017-05-01 Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov. Faulkes, Chris G. Mgode, Georgies F. Archer, Elizabeth K. Bennett, Nigel C. PeerJ Biodiversity Previous studies of African mole-rats of the genera Heliophobius and Fukomys (Bathyergidae) in the regions of East and south central Africa have revealed a diversity of species and vicariant populations, with patterns of distribution having been influenced by the geological process of rifting and changing patterns of drainage of major river systems. This has resulted in most of the extant members of the genus Fukomys being distributed west of the main Rift Valley. However, a small number of isolated populations are known to occur east of the African Rift Valley in Tanzania, where Heliophobius is the most common bathyergid rodent. We conducted morphological, craniometric and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) sequences of two allopatric populations of Tanzanian mole-rats (genus Fukomys) at Ujiji and around Mount Hanang, in comparison with both geographically adjacent and more distant populations of Fukomys. Our results reveal two distinct evolutionary lineages, forming clades that constitute previously unnamed species. Here, we formally describe and designate these new species F. livingstoni and F. hanangensis respectively. Molecular clock-based estimates of divergence times, together with maximum likelihood inference of biogeographic range evolution, offers strong support for the hypothesis that vicariance in the Western Rift Valley and the drainage patterns of major river systems has subdivided populations of mole-rats. More recent climatic changes and tectonic activity in the “Mbeya triple junction” and Rungwe volcanic province between Lakes Rukwa and Nyasa have played a role in further isolation of these extra-limital populations of Fukomys in Tanzania. PeerJ Inc. 2017-04-27 /pmc/articles/PMC5410139/ /pubmed/28462027 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3214 Text en ©2017 Faulkes et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Faulkes, Chris G.
Mgode, Georgies F.
Archer, Elizabeth K.
Bennett, Nigel C.
Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.
title Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.
title_full Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.
title_fullStr Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.
title_full_unstemmed Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.
title_short Relic populations of Fukomys mole-rats in Tanzania: description of two new species F. livingstoni sp. nov. and F. hanangensis sp. nov.
title_sort relic populations of fukomys mole-rats in tanzania: description of two new species f. livingstoni sp. nov. and f. hanangensis sp. nov.
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5410139/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28462027
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3214
work_keys_str_mv AT faulkeschrisg relicpopulationsoffukomysmoleratsintanzaniadescriptionoftwonewspeciesflivingstonispnovandfhanangensisspnov
AT mgodegeorgiesf relicpopulationsoffukomysmoleratsintanzaniadescriptionoftwonewspeciesflivingstonispnovandfhanangensisspnov
AT archerelizabethk relicpopulationsoffukomysmoleratsintanzaniadescriptionoftwonewspeciesflivingstonispnovandfhanangensisspnov
AT bennettnigelc relicpopulationsoffukomysmoleratsintanzaniadescriptionoftwonewspeciesflivingstonispnovandfhanangensisspnov