© Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/

Mamm. biol. 66 (2001) 121-126 Mammalian Biology © Urban & Fischer Verlag http://www.urbanfischer.de/journals/mammbiol Zeitschrift für Säugetierl

Short communication

The Bolivian bamboo rat, Dactylomys boliviensis (Rodentia: Echimyidae), a new record for chromosome numberin a mammal

By J. L. DuNNUM, J. Salazar-Bravo, and T. L. Yates

Museum of Southwestern BioLogy and Department of BioLogy, University of New Mexico, ALbuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A.

Receipt of Ms. 20. 09. 2000 Acceptance of Ms. 30. 10. 2000

Key words: Dactylomys boliviensis, Rodentia, Boh'via, new record

The family Echimyidae, a highly diverse is known is well summarized in Patton et group of rodents, occurs throughout most al. (2000). Until recently (Aniskin 1993) of Central and South America. There are no Information on the chromosomal com- 16 recent genera and about 70 Uving spe- plement of any member of this group was cies (Woods 1993), however, new taxa con- available. tinue to be described (e. g.. Da Silva 1998; As part of a long-term survey of the mam- Patton et al. 2000). To date no comprehen- mals of Bolivia, many new and important sive phylogenetic analysis is available for records for the country were collected (An- the group although great advances have derson 1997). In July of 1992 and May of been forthcoming (e. g., Lara et al. 1996; 1996, we took a total of five specimens of

Patton et al. 2000). The group is highly di- Dactylomys boliviensis (Bolivian bamboo versified ecologically and has had a long rat) from a locality in the Yungas of La Paz evolutionary history in South America (Salazar et al. 1994). Here we report the (Patterson and Pascual 1972; Woods karyotype of this Speeles, the highest chro- 1982). Karyologically, less than half of the mosomal number known in a mammal.

Speeles have been analyzed but it is known The individuals were located and collected that there is considerable Variation in di- at night in a dense stand of bamboo and ploid (from 2n = 14 to 2n = 96) and funda- secondary growth within the village of mental numbers (from FNa = 18 to La Reserva (Departamento La Paz, Nor FNa = 144) (Tab. 1). One of the most spe- Yungas, La Reserva, elev. 840 m, 15°44'S, cialized groups within the Echimyidae is 67°3rW) by following their distinctive the subfamily of bamboo rats (Dactylomyi- calls and eye shine. The village of La Reser- nae). Woods (1993) placed three genera in va lies along Rio La Reserva, a small tribu- the subfamily Dactylomyinae; Dactyloms, tary of the Caranavi River. The village is at Kannabateomys. and Olallamys. The biol- the bottom of a Valley in the subtropical ogy and evolutionary relationships of the montane forest that Covers most of the east- Dactylomyinae are poorly known, likely ern Andean slopes between 15° and 17° S due to their rarity to collectors and subse- latitude in the Cordillera Oriental of Boh- quent scarcity in museum collections. What via. The foothills at this elevation are cov-

1616-5047/01/66/02-121 $ 15.00/0. © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/

122 J. L. DuNNUM etaL.

II i< H n m %(i II it II

1)1 iS{ ü«; i% M tt IC II 10

«I «i \t Rt um n« ftifi 19 fto PO no f nfv Oi IV 28

n% i^ä i'^ f^^^ 37

46

55 58

X Y XX

Fig. 1. Standard karyotype of Dactylomys boliviensis. ered with semi-deciduous Vegetation inter- individuals. Nomenclature for chromosome mingled with columnar cacti and bro- morphology and fundamental number fol- meliads. The forest is drier and sparser than lows Patton (1967). at higher elevations. Compared to forests at Chromosome shdes, tissue samples, and cell higher and lower elevations, the trees are suspensions are deposited in the Division of smaller, more highly branched, and most Biological Materials, Museum of South- grow in open sun. The east facing slope western Biology (MSB). Voucher speci- above the river is steep, with much Vegeta- mens are deposited at MSB (MSB 68547, tion, some secondary growth, and banana MSB 85627, NK 40537), the American Mu- and tangerine cultivation. Palms and tree seum of Natural History (AMNH 264887, ferns are absent (Salazar et al. 1994). 264884), and the Colecciön Bohviana de Chromosomal preparations were obtained Fauna (CBF 2608), in La Paz, Bolivia. using the technique described in Anderson The Standard karyotype of Dactylomys bo- et al. (1987). Metaphase cells were photo- liviensis is highly asymmetrical, composed graphed and scored to determine the di- of 26 pairs of metacentric or sub-meta- ploid (2n) and fundamental numbers centric autosomes and 32 pairs of acro- (FNa). One of us (JLD) scored 5 slides per centric autosomes. The X chromosome is a animal and over 20 spreads per slide to de- large sub-metacentric and the Y chromo- termine chromosome numbers. The analysis some is a medium sub-metacentric. The re- of the morphology of the chromosomes was sulting karyotype has a diploid count of based on 10 metaphase plates from three 2n = 118 and FNa of 168 (Fig. 1). Chromo- © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/

Dactyiomys botiviensis, new record for chromosome number 123

Table 1. DipLoid (2n) and fundamental number (FN) for members of the famUy Echimyidae.

Taxon 2n FN Reference

Dactyiomys boliviensis 118 168 this report Dactyiomys dactylinus 94 144 Aniskin (1993) Echimys blainvillei 50 94 Reig (1989) Echimys dasythrix 96 102 Lima etaL (1998) Echimys semivillosus 94 134 Aguilera et aL. (1998) Echimys sp. 90 108 Lima etaL (1998) Echimys sp. 90 110 Aniskin (1993) Echimys sp. 90 112 Reig (1989) Isothn'x bistriata 60 116 Patton et aL (2000) Isothrix bistriata 60 120 Lima etaL (1998) Isothn'x pagurus 22 38 Patton and Emmons (1985) Isothn'x sinnamariensis 28 42 ViEetaL (1996) Makalota ormata 70 120 Lima etaL (1998) Makalata didelphoides 66 106 Lima etaL (1998) Clyomys laticeps 34 60 Reig (1989) Euryzygomatomys guiara 46 82 Aniskin (1993) Euryzygomotomys spinosus 46 92 Reig (1989) Hoplomys gymnurus 46 Aniskin (1993) Lonchothn'x emiliae 60 116 Aniskin (1993) Mesomys hispidus 60 120 Lima etaL (1998) Mesomys hispidus 60 116 Pahon et aL (2000) Mesomys occultus 42 54 Patton et aL (2000) Proechimys albispinus 60 116 Leal-Mesquita et aL (1992) Proechimys amphicon'cus 26 44 Reig (1989) Proechimys brevicoudo 28-30 48-50 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys caniCollis 24 44 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys cuvien 28 46 Maia and Langguth (1993) Proechimys decumanus 30 54 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys echinothrix 32 69 Pahon et aL (2000) Proechimys gardnen 40 56 Patton et aL (2000) Proechimys goeldii 24 44 Pahon et aL (2000) Proechimys guiaroe 44-50 72-76 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys gulan's 30 48 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys guyannensis 40 54-56 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys iheringi 62-65 117-124 Reig (1989) Proechimys kulinae 34 52 Patton et aL (2000) Proechimys mincae 48 68 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys oconnelli 32 52 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys on's 30 52-56 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys pattoni 40 56 Patton et aL (2000) Proechimys poliopus 42 76 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys quadruplicatus 28 44 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys semispinosus 30 50-54 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys simonsi 32 58 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys steerei 24 42 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys tn'm'tatus 62 80 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys urichi 62 88 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Proechimys yonenagae 54 104 LEAL-MESQüiTAet aL (1992), Rocha (1995) Proechimys sp. 34 56 Aniskin (1993) Proechimys sp. 14-16 18 Reig (1989) Proechimys sp. (BaLta) 40 56 Reig (1989) Proechimys sp. (Barinas) 62 74 Gardner and Emmons (1984) Thricomys aperoides 26 48 Leal-Mesquita etaL (1993) Thn'comys aperoides 30 54 Reig (1989) Thricomys aperoides 30 50 Aniskin (1993) © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/

124 J. L DuNNUM et al.

50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 Diploid number (2n)

(J Dactylomyinae ^ Echimyinae ^ Eumysopinae

Fig. 2. Karyogram of known echimyid karyotypes.

some pair nine exhibits the characteristic (Tab. 1) and created a karyograph (Iami satellite chromosome found in other echi- and Crozier 1980) based on chromosomal myid rodents. and fundamental numbers (Fig. 2). A defi- No chromosomal information is available nite pattern of subfamily grouping is clear for Kannabateomys, Olallamys, or D. periia- where two species of Dactylomys assume nus. Aniskin (1993) described the karyo- the highest positions on the plot and the type of D. dactyliniis (2n = 94, Fn = 144) echimyine rodents (Echimys, Makalata, Iso- from the Loreto Department in Peru. The thrix) are positioned at an intermediate le- karyotype of D. boliviensis differs from that vel (with the exception of /. pagurus and of D. dactyliniis by the presence of one ad- /. sinnamariensis). The most speciose and ditional set of meta or sub-metacentric karyologically studied group is the Eumyso- pairs, and 10 pairs of acrocentric chromo- pinae (represented in this sample by Pro- somes ahhough comparisons are difficuh echimys, Clyomys, Euryzygomatomys, Hop- due to the fact that Aniskin (1993) did not lomys, Lonchothrix, Mesomys, and Thri- identify sex chromosomes. At least 14 Ro- chomys). For the most part these fall at the bertsonian rearrangements would be neces- lower end of (Fig. 2). To date, no eumyso- sary to transform the karyotype of one spe- pids have been found with a 2n>65. cies into the other. Lima et al. (1998) proposed that Robertso- We compiled a hst of all species of echimyid nian rearrangements were more important rodents for which data were available in the evolution of the karyotype of arbo- © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/

Dactylomys boliviensis, new record for chromosome number 125

real echimyids than other chromosomal re- Prior to our results, the highest chromo- arrangements because karyotypes of this some number reported for a mammal was group appeared to show higher levels of 2n = 102 in Tympanoctomys barrerae (Con- Variation in diploid numbers than in funda- TRERAS et al 1990). These authors also sug- mental numbers. Our data do not support gested that the family Octodontidae pre-

Lima et al. (1998). We found statistically sented the greatest chromosomal diversity. significant differences in the levels of Var- While this remains true for Fundamental iation between diploid and fundamental number, the Echimyidae now represent the number for the arboreal echimyids (Krus- family with the greatest diversity in diploid kal-Wallis; P < 0.004), terrestrial echimyids number (2n = 14 to 2n = 118). (One-way ANOVA; a=0.05; P < 0.004), Although Tympanoctomys and Dactylomys and for the entire echimyid radiation represent terminal branches in two different (Kruskal-Wallis; P < 0.001). However, in families of South American hystricognath all cases the fundamental number varied rodents with a long history on this continent, more than the diploid number, suggesting they also share another characteristic: both that pericentric inversions may be more occupy restricted ecological niches and pos- common. None the less it is quite likely ses highly specialized life history traits. We that several processes may have influenced concur with Contreras et al. (1990) in sug- the evolution of the karyotype in this gesting that the high chromosomal count ap- group. pears to be a derived character.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Na- ditions for their exceptional work. Mike Bogan, tional Science Foundation and a Research Ex- Jerry Dragoo, and William Gannon reviewed perience for Undergraduates Supplement. We earlier drafts. Special thanks to Suzy and Somiya. would like to thank the 1992 and 1996 members Collecting and exportation permits were facili- of the joint CBF-MNK-AMNH-MSB field expe- tated by the Coleccion Boliviana de Fauna.

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