DOCSLIB.ORG

Middle-Late Miocene Spalacidae

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Middle-Late Miocene Spalacidae Yerbilimleri, 32 (1), 21–50 Hacettepe Üniversitesi Yerbilimleri Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi Bülteni Bulletin of the Earth Sciences Application and Research Centre of Hacettepe University Middle-Late Miocene Spalacidae (Mammalia) From Western Anatolia, and the Phylogeny of the Family Orta-Geç Miyosen Batı Anadolu Spalacidae (Mammalia) Fosillerinin Ailenin Evrimine Katkısı *Şevket ŞEN1, Nuran SARICA2 1CR2P-CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France. 2İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Maden Fakültesi, Jeoloji Mühendisliği Bölümü, Ayazağa, 34469 İstanbul, Turkey. Geliş (received) : 25 Aralık (December) 2010 Kabul (accepted) : 19 Mart (March) 2011 ABSTRACT The Spalacidae (Rodentia, Mammalia) are among the common elements of Neogene and Quaternary mammali- an faunas in Turkey. Their evolutionary dynamics since the Early Miocene allows their use for dating Neogene and Quaternary terrestrial deposits. This paper describes spalacid fossils from three Middle-Late Miocene localities in Western Anatolia; two of them yielded two new species. To test the monophyly of the known genera and to es- tablish phylogenetic relations of fossil species, a cladistic analysis has been performed. The enlightenment of the- ir evolutionary trend towards adaptation to a fully subterraneous life required the analysis of the dental features of available and well-represented fossil species and the discussion of their phylogenetic relationships. It appears that the first representatives of the family originated in Anatolia during the Early Miocene, as suggested by previo- us studies, then rapidly dispersed into south-eastern Europe, and probably much later (?Pliocene) into southwest Asia and North Africa. Their representatives adapted to a fully subterraneous mode of life during the Late Mioce- ne, when open environments prevailed in western Asia and SE Europe. Key Words: Biostratigraphy, cladistic analysis, Miocene, phylogeny, Rodentia, Spalacidae, systematics, Turkey. ÖZ Köstebekler (Spalacidae (Rodentia, Mammalia) Türkiye’de Neojen ve Kuvaterner yaşlı faunalar içinde sıkça bulunanlardır. Erken Miyosen’den beri gösterdikleri güçlü evrim dinamiği nedeniyle, bu ailenin türleri Neojen ve Kuvaterner karasal tortulların yaşlandırılmasında başarılı olarak kullanılır. Bu yayında Batı Anadolu’da Orta-Geç Miyosen yaşlı üç lokasyonda bulunmuş Spalacidae fosilleri ve onların içerdiği iki yeni tür tanımlandı. Bu aileye katılan cinslerin tek kökenli olup olamadığını ve türler arasındaki evrimsel bağlantıları aramak için kladistik analiz yöntemi kullanıldı. Ailenin evrimsel sürecini ve yeraltı yaşamına uyma nedenlerini daha iyi anlamak amacıyla da bilinen bütün fosil türlerin diş yapıları incelendi. Elde edilen sonuçlar, Spalacidae ailesinin, daha önceki çalışmalarda da belirtildiği Ş.Şen E-mail: [email protected] 22 Yerbilimleri gibi, büyük bir olasılıkla Anadolu’da Oligosenden beri bilinen Cricetidae ailesinden Erken Miyosen veya öncesinde türediğini kanıtlar. Kısa sürede Anadolu çevresindeki bölgelere de ulaşan bu ailenin azami dağılımı Kuvaterner’de gerçekleşir. Köstebeklerin salt yeraltı yaşamına uyuşları büyük olasılıkla Geç Miyosen döneminde açık ortamların Batı Asya ve Güneydoğu Avrupa’da yaygınlaşmasına bağlanabilir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Biyostratigrafi, evrim, kladistik analiz, Miyosen, Rodentia, Spalacidae, Türkiye. INTRODUCTION As mentioned above, the oldest representa- tives of this family are included in the genera The mole rats of the family Spalacidae are Debruijnia and Heramys from the Early Mi- burrowing muroid rodents adapted to subter- ocene. The genus Sinapospalax appeared in raneous life. They have a present day disper- the early Middle Miocene and became extinct sal extending, in the east-west direction, from at the end of the Vallesian (Sarica & Sen, 2003). western Iran to Croatia and, in the north-south Pliospalax is known from the second part of the direction, from Ukraine to northeastern Africa Late Miocene (Turolian) and the Pliocene in the (Topachevski, 1969). The Anatolian peninsula is Balkans and Turkey. The genus Spalax (includ- situated almost central in their present distribu- ing Nannospalax, see below) appeared in the tion territory. The fossil localities of the family Late Pliocene (Topachevski, 1969; de Bruijn, are also situated within its present dispersal 1984). It has to be mentioned here that the ge- area. The earliest representatives of spalacids nus Prospalax Mehely, 1908, known from a few are known from Turkey with Debruijnia arpati Late Miocene – Early Pliocene localities in cen- Ünay, 1996, which first occurs at the locality tral and southeastern Europe, belongs in fact to Keseköy in the Neogene Mammalian (MN) Zone the family Anomalomyidae (Bolliger, 1999). 3, and from Greece with Heramys eviensis Klein Hofmeijer and de Bruijn, 1985, which first oc- Thanks to their relatively rich record in the Bal- curs at Aliveri correlated to MN4 (de Bruijn et al., kans and Anatolia, and also to their evolution- 1992). In the latest Late Miocene, the spalacids ary dynamics, spalacids are a useful biostrati- appear in the northern Balkans, and much later graphic tool for terrestrial Neogene deposits in Israel and NE Africa (Topachevski, 1969; de (Ünay, 1999; Nesin and Nadachowski, 2001; Bruijn, 1984; Tchernov, 1986; Popov, 2004). The Sarıca and Şen, 2003). In addition, their sub- available fossil record seems to suggest that terraneous adaptation is interpreted in terms of the spalacids originated in the Middle East, and climatic changes, which occurred in western more probably in Anatolia. Although Debruijnia Asia and southeastern Europe during the Late clearly has a cricetid-type dentition, the fossil Miocene (Ünay, 1999; Flynn, 2009). record does not allow, for the time being, to root The aims of the present paper are firstly the this family in a particular genus or species of description of new spalacid fossils from three Cricetidae (Ünay, 1999; Sarıca and Şen, 2003). Middle and Late Miocene localities of south- The Miocene and Pliocene fossil record of western Anatolia, and, secondly, the discus- spalacids is quite rich in Turkey, Greece and, to sion of the systematics of the family Spalaci- dae with the aid of a thorough review of fossil some extent, in SE Europe, but sparse in other species and of a cladistic analysis of their den- territories where the family lives today. In Turkey, tal morphology which clears up phylogenetic more than a dozen Miocene and Pliocene lo- relationships between species. The names of calities have yielded spalacid remains referred the genera and species discussed in this paper, to four genera and to eight named species up as well as the localities where they have been today. In Greece, they are known with three found are given in Appendix 1. genera in several Miocene and Pliocene locali- ties. The fossil record is limited, or even absent The new material described in this paper is still elsewhere. under study in the Paleontology Laboratory Şen and Sarıca 23 of the Natural History Museum in Paris. After of these subfamilies. The early history of the its study, it will be stored at the Natural His- Rhizomyinae seems to have taken place on tory Museum of Ankara. The dental terminol- the Indian subcontinent during the Miocene ogy used in this paper is after Sarıca and Şen (Flynn, 1982), that of the Spalacinae in the Mid- (2003). The maximum length and width of each dle East during the Miocene (Ünay, 1996), that tooth were measured using a double axis Mi- of the Anomalomyinae in Central Europe dur- tutoyo measuroscope and are given in millim- ing the Miocene (Bolliger, 1999) and that of the eters. The upper molars are abbreviated as M1, Tachyoryctoidinae in Central Asia during the M2, M3 and lower molars as m1, m2, m3. For Oligo/Miocene”. The great morphological dif- ease of comparison, all specimens were illus- ferences of the oldest representatives of these trated as left; if the original is a right tooth, its taxa and their apparently different evolutionary number on the figure is underlined. history led most paleontologists to consider these groups as separate families, issued in- SYSTEMATICS OF SPALACIDAE dependently from early Muroidea sometime in Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. In other words, The status of spalacids as a family or subfamily the fossorial and subterraneous adaptations and their relationships with other rodent families in these groups resulted in the appearance of have been debated since more than a century similar morphological features, which indicate (see Ünay, 1999, and references therein). Cra- an evolutionary convergence rather than a de- nial, postcranial, dental and genetic features of scent from a common ancestor. It is also this spalacids show that they are closely related to opinion that we share, since we consider that Muroidea, among which they form a separate the fossil and extant blind mole rats belong to subfamily (McKenna and Bell, 1997) or a family, an independent family, the Spalacidae. the Spalacidae Gray, 1821 (Musser and Carle- As noted above, the oldest record of this fam- ton, 2005). According to Musser and Carleton ily is Debruijnia arpati Ünay, 1996 from the Ear- (2005: 907), this family contains all extant “spe- ly Miocene (MN 3 zone) of Keseköy in Turkey. cies of fossorial and subterraneous muroids ar- Several other Early Miocene localities in Turkey ranged in the Myospalacinae (zokors, Eospalax also yielded Debruijnia arpati or Debruijnia sp. and Myospalax), Rhizomyinae (bamboo rats (Sabuncubeli, Söke, Dededağ, Gördes-Kınık Cannomys and Rhizomys),
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Blind Mole Rat (Spalax Leucodon) Masseter Muscle: Structure, Homology, Diversification and Nomenclature A
    Folia Morphol. Vol. 78, No. 2, pp. 419–424 DOI: 10.5603/FM.a2018.0097 O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E Copyright © 2019 Via Medica ISSN 0015–5659 journals.viamedica.pl Blind mole rat (Spalax leucodon) masseter muscle: structure, homology, diversification and nomenclature A. Yoldas1, M. Demir1, R. İlgun2, M.O. Dayan3 1Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey 2Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey 3Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey [Received: 10 July 2018; Accepted: 23 September 2018] Background: It is well known that rodents are defined by a unique masticatory apparatus. The present study describes the design and structure of the masseter muscle of the blind mole rat (Spalax leucodon). The blind mole rat, which emer- ged 5.3–3.4 million years ago during the Late Pliocene period, is a subterranean, hypoxia-tolerant and cancer-resistant rodent. Yet, despite these impressive cha- racteristics, no information exists on their masticatory musculature. Materials and methods: Fifteen adult blind mole rats were used in this study. Dissections were performed to investigate the anatomical characteristics of the masseter muscle. Results: The muscle was comprised of three different parts: the superficial mas- seter, the deep masseter and the zygomaticomandibularis muscle. The superficial masseter originated from the facial fossa at the ventral side of the infraorbital foramen. The deep masseter was separated into anterior and posterior parts. The anterior part of the zygomaticomandibularis muscle arose from the snout and passed through the infraorbital foramen to connect on the mandible.
    [Show full text]
  • TAXONOMIC STUDIES from RODENT OUTBREAK AREAS in the CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS Nikhil
    Bangladesh J. Zool. 46(2): 217-230, 2018 ISSN: 0304-9027 (print) 2408-8455 (online) NEW RECORDS OF RODENT SPECIES IN BANGLADESH: TAXONOMIC STUDIES FROM RODENT OUTBREAK AREAS IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS Nikhil Chakma*, Noor Jahan Sarker, Steven Belmain1, Sohrab Uddin Sarker, Ken Aplin2 and Sontosh Kumar Sarker3 Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh Abstract: Rodents are regarded as crop pests, significant reservoirs and vectors for many zoonotic diseases around the world. Basic taxonomic information of rodents present in a locality can help understand which species are responsible as crop pest in that habitat. The phenomenon of the 50-year cycle of gregarious bamboo flowering and rodent outbreaks in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, rodents trapping were carried out in four habitats from March, 2009 to December, 2011 in Ruma upazila of Bandarban hill district. Variety of traps were used to capture small mammals. The captured species were measured and identified using taxonomical dichotomous keys and DNA bar-coding performed in Australia. A total of 14 different small mammalian species were captured of which nine belonging to the Muridae family, and one species each of Spalacidae, Sciuridae, Tupaiidae and Soricidae families. The dominant small mammal species captured were Rattus rattus (54.06%) followed by Mus musculus (26.39%), Rattus nitidus (10.98%), Suncus murinus (5.45%), Mus terricolor (1.09%), Mus cookii nagarum (0.97%), Cannomys badius (0.16%), Leopoldamys edwardsi (0.12%), Berylmys bowersi (0.12%), Vernaya fulva (0.08%), Rattus andamanensis (0.08%), Tupaia glis (0.04%) and Callosciurus pygerythrus (0.04%).
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from Ensembl (Www
    Lin et al. BMC Genomics 2014, 15:32 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/15/32 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Transcriptome sequencing and phylogenomic resolution within Spalacidae (Rodentia) Gong-Hua Lin1, Kun Wang2, Xiao-Gong Deng1,3, Eviatar Nevo4, Fang Zhao1, Jian-Ping Su1, Song-Chang Guo1, Tong-Zuo Zhang1* and Huabin Zhao5* Abstract Background: Subterranean mammals have been of great interest for evolutionary biologists because of their highly specialized traits for the life underground. Owing to the convergence of morphological traits and the incongruence of molecular evidence, the phylogenetic relationships among three subfamilies Myospalacinae (zokors), Spalacinae (blind mole rats) and Rhizomyinae (bamboo rats) within the family Spalacidae remain unresolved. Here, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing of four RNA-seq libraries prepared from brain and liver tissues of a plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi) and a hoary bamboo rat (Rhizomys pruinosus), and analyzed the transcriptome sequences alongside a published transcriptome of the Middle East blind mole rat (Spalax galili). We characterize the transcriptome assemblies of the two spalacids, and recover the phylogeny of the three subfamilies using a phylogenomic approach. Results: Approximately 50.3 million clean reads from the zokor and 140.8 million clean reads from the bamboo ratwere generated by Illumina paired-end RNA-seq technology. All clean reads were assembled into 138,872 (the zokor) and 157,167 (the bamboo rat) unigenes, which were annotated by the public databases: the Swiss-prot, Trembl, NCBI non-redundant protein (NR), NCBI nucleotide sequence (NT), Gene Ontology (GO), Cluster of Orthologous Groups (COG), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG).
    [Show full text]
  • Checklist of Rodents and Insectivores of the Mordovia, Russia
    ZooKeys 1004: 129–139 (2020) A peer-reviewed open-access journal doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1004.57359 RESEARCH ARTICLE https://zookeys.pensoft.net Launched to accelerate biodiversity research Checklist of rodents and insectivores of the Mordovia, Russia Alexey V. Andreychev1, Vyacheslav A. Kuznetsov1 1 Department of Zoology, National Research Mordovia State University, Bolshevistskaya Street, 68. 430005, Saransk, Russia Corresponding author: Alexey V. Andreychev ([email protected]) Academic editor: R. López-Antoñanzas | Received 7 August 2020 | Accepted 18 November 2020 | Published 16 December 2020 http://zoobank.org/C127F895-B27D-482E-AD2E-D8E4BDB9F332 Citation: Andreychev AV, Kuznetsov VA (2020) Checklist of rodents and insectivores of the Mordovia, Russia. ZooKeys 1004: 129–139. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1004.57359 Abstract A list of 40 species is presented of the rodents and insectivores collected during a 15-year period from the Republic of Mordovia. The dataset contains more than 24,000 records of rodent and insectivore species from 23 districts, including Saransk. A major part of the data set was obtained during expedition research and at the biological station. The work is based on the materials of our surveys of rodents and insectivo- rous mammals conducted in Mordovia using both trap lines and pitfall arrays using traditional methods. Keywords Insectivores, Mordovia, rodents, spatial distribution Introduction There is a need to review the species composition of rodents and insectivores in all regions of Russia, and the work by Tovpinets et al. (2020) on the Crimean Peninsula serves as an example of such research. Studies of rodent and insectivore diversity and distribution have a long history, but there are no lists for many regions of Russia of Copyright A.V.
    [Show full text]
  • Two New Pliocene Hamsters (Cricetidae, Rodentia) from Southwestern Tibet (China), and Their Implications for Rodent Dispersal ‘Into Tibet’
    Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology ISSN: 0272-4634 (Print) 1937-2809 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujvp20 Two new Pliocene hamsters (Cricetidae, Rodentia) from southwestern Tibet (China), and their implications for rodent dispersal ‘into Tibet’ Qiang Li, Thomas A. Stidham, Xijun Ni & Lüzhou Li To cite this article: Qiang Li, Thomas A. Stidham, Xijun Ni & Lüzhou Li (2017) Two new Pliocene hamsters (Cricetidae, Rodentia) from southwestern Tibet (China), and their implications for rodent dispersal ‘into Tibet’, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37:6, e1403443, DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1403443 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1403443 View supplementary material Published online: 16 Feb 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 30 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ujvp20 Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e1403443 (10 pages) Ó by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2017.1403443 ARTICLE TWO NEW PLIOCENE HAMSTERS (CRICETIDAE, RODENTIA) FROM SOUTHWESTERN TIBET (CHINA), AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR RODENT DISPERSAL ‘INTO TIBET’ QIANG LI, *,1,2,3 THOMAS A. STIDHAM,1,3 XIJUN NI, 1,2,3 and LUZHOU€ LI 1,3 1Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China, [email protected];
    [Show full text]
  • Rodentia: Spalacidae) from Turkey with Consideration of Its Taxonomic Importance
    Turkish Journal of Zoology Turk J Zool (2014) 38: 144-157 http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/ © TÜBİTAK Research Article doi:10.3906/zoo-1302-5 Morphological and biometrical comparisons of the baculum in the genus Nannospalax Palmer, 1903 (Rodentia: Spalacidae) from Turkey with consideration of its taxonomic importance 1, 2 3 3 Teoman KANKILIÇ *, Tolga KANKILIÇ , Perinçek Seçkin Ozan ŞEKER , Erkut KIVANÇ 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Niğde University, Niğde, Turkey 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey 3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey Received: 02.02.2013 Accepted: 24.10.2013 Published Online: 17.01.2014 Printed: 14.02.2014 Abstract: The morphological variability of the baculum (os penis) of 147 adult specimens of species in the genus Nannospalax from 58 localities in Turkey was examined using morphological and numerical taxonomic methods. Significant differences among all of the Turkish species in the genus were determined by morphological and biometrical comparison of the bacula, and the results of this study showed that N. nehringi and N. xanthodon are separate species and that the names are not synonyms. Additionally, because the central Anatolian mole rat populations that were classified by previous studies as members of N. nehringi or N. xanthodon had highly different baculum morphologies, these populations were classified as a different species (N. labaumei) in this study. When compared to the other populations, the central Anatolian populations, which have greater diploid chromosomal sets (2n = 56, 58, 60), had very different baculum morphologies. Whereas individuals of the species N.
    [Show full text]
  • Diversification of Muroid Rodents Driven by the Late Miocene Global Cooling Nelish Pradhan University of Vermont
    University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2018 Diversification Of Muroid Rodents Driven By The Late Miocene Global Cooling Nelish Pradhan University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons, Evolution Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Pradhan, Nelish, "Diversification Of Muroid Rodents Driven By The Late Miocene Global Cooling" (2018). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 907. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/907 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DIVERSIFICATION OF MUROID RODENTS DRIVEN BY THE LATE MIOCENE GLOBAL COOLING A Dissertation Presented by Nelish Pradhan to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Specializing in Biology May, 2018 Defense Date: January 8, 2018 Dissertation Examination Committee: C. William Kilpatrick, Ph.D., Advisor David S. Barrington, Ph.D., Chairperson Ingi Agnarsson, Ph.D. Lori Stevens, Ph.D. Sara I. Helms Cahan, Ph.D. Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College ABSTRACT Late Miocene, 8 to 6 million years ago (Ma), climatic changes brought about dramatic floral and faunal changes. Cooler and drier climates that prevailed in the Late Miocene led to expansion of grasslands and retreat of forests at a global scale.
    [Show full text]
  • Chromosomal Numbers in African Giant Rat (Cricetomysgambianus, Waterhouse-1840)
    IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 18, Issue 7 Ser. 6 (July. 2019), PP 26-31 www.iosrjournals.org Chromosomal Numbers in African Giant Rat (Cricetomysgambianus, Waterhouse-1840) Ahmad, Im1, Musa, Sa2, Nzalak, Jo3 1Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, UsmanuDanfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. 2Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria. 3Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Kaduna, Nigeria. Corresponding Author: Ahmad, IM Abstract: Background: Karyotypic studies were carried out on the African giant rat, Cricetomysgambianus, Waterhouse-1840 with the aim of determining its chromosome diploid numbers and autosomal fundamental numbers. Methods: The chromosomes were prepared from the conventional bone marrow of two (2) African giant rats – a male and a female treated intra-peritoneally with 2 ml of 0.04% colchicines for 3 hours. Chromosomes in well spread mitotic metaphase cells were counted and measured using KaryoType computer software. Chromosomal numbers were identified. Ideograms were also constructed from the measurements. Data were collected and analysed using SPSS version 20. Results: A diploid chromosome number of 2n = 80 with an autosomal fundamental number (NFa) of 66 and 95 were obtained for the species of C. gambianus used in this study. The X chromosomes were medium-sized metacentric and small acrocentric while the Y chromosome was small acrocentric. Conclusion: Cricetomysgambianus was found to have an identifiable autosomal diploid number,The findings resembled those in Benin, Senegal, Niger, Cameroun and other countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Taxonomy and Phylogenetic Relationship of Zokors
    Journal of Genetics (2020)99:38 Ó Indian Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-020-01200-2 (0123456789().,-volV)(0123456789().,-volV) RESEARCH ARTICLE Taxonomy and phylogenetic relationship of zokors YAO ZOU1, MIAO XU1, SHIEN REN1, NANNAN LIANG1, CHONGXUAN HAN1*, XIAONING NAN1* and JIANNING SHI2 1Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Management of Western Forest Bio-Disaster, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Yangling 712100, People’s Republic of China 2Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Forest Disease and Pest Control Quarantine Station, Yinchuan 750001, People’s Republic of China *For correspondence. E-mail: Chongxuan Han, [email protected]; Xiaoning Nan, [email protected]. Received 24 October 2019; revised 19 February 2020; accepted 2 March 2020 Abstract. Zokor (Myospalacinae) is one of the subterranean rodents, endemic to east Asia. Due to the convergent and parallel evolution induced by its special lifestyles, the controversies in morphological classification of zokor appeared at the level of family and genus. To resolve these controversies about taxonomy and phylogeny, the phylogenetic relationships of 20 species of Muroidea and six species of zokors were studied based on complete mitochondrial genome and mitochondrial Cytb gene, respectively. Phylogeny analysis of 20 species of Muroidea indicated that the zokor belonged to the family Spalacidae, and it was closer to mole rat rather than bamboo rat. Besides, by investigating the phylogenetic relationships of six species of zokors, the status of two genera of Eospalax and Myospalax was affirmed because the two clades differentiated in phylogenetic tree represented two types of zokors, convex occiput type and flat occiput type, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 4 the Antiquity of Rhizomys and Independent Acquisition of Fossorial Traits in Subterranean Muroids
    Chapter 4 The Antiquity of Rhizomys and Independent Acquisition of Fossorial Traits in Subterranean Muroids LAWRENCE J. FLYNN1 ABSTRACT In parallel with the growing body of molecular data bearing on the relationships of muroids, particularly subterranean lineages, the relevant fossil record has improved to the point that its data constrain scenarios of evolution about both the timing and mode of evolution of burrowing muroids, especially bamboo rats, blind mole rats, and zokors. Morphologists have considered these groups phylogenetically distinct from each other, but the three lineages appear to be related as a monophyletic Family Spalacidae, sister taxon to all other living muroids, based on both nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Although living genera are fully subterranean, the fossil record shows that the three groups evolved burrowing characteristics independently. Bamboo rats (Rhizomyinae) have the longest fossil record, extending into the Late Oligocene, but do not show fossorial traits until the Late Miocene. Blind mole rats (Spalacinae) have a fossil record nearly that long, and its early members also lack burrowing traits. Zokors (Myospalacinae) show characteristics considered derived relative to other groups, and have a shorter fossil record. The fossil record of the Tribe Rhizomyini, living Asian bamboo rats, extends to about 10 million years ago, with early species distinct at the generic level from living Rhizomys. The oldest well- known species assignable to an extant genus is Rhizomys (Brachyrhizomys) shansius from the early Pliocene of Yushe Basin, China, north of the geographic range of modern Rhizomys.A hypothesis of close relationship of bamboo rats, blind mole rats, and zokors leads to a reevaluation of affinities of certain Asian fossil taxa and reevaluation of polarity of some features, but molecular data are not yet robust enough to clarify interrelationships of the groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Hystrx It. J. Mamm. (Ns) Supp. (2007) V European Congress of Mammalogy
    Hystrx It. J. Mamm . (n.s.) Supp. (2007) V European Congress of Mammalogy RODENTS AND LAGOMORPHS 51 Hystrx It. J. Mamm . (n.s.) Supp. (2007) V European Congress of Mammalogy 52 Hystrx It. J. Mamm . (n.s.) Supp. (2007) V European Congress of Mammalogy A COMPARATIVE GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF NON-GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN TWO SPECIES OF MURID RODENTS, AETHOMYS INEPTUS FROM SOUTH AFRICA AND ARVICANTHIS NILOTICUS FROM SUDAN EITIMAD H. ABDEL-RAHMAN 1, CHRISTIAN T. CHIMIMBA, PETER J. TAYLOR, GIANCARLO CONTRAFATTO, JENNIFER M. LAMB 1 Sudan Natural History Museum, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum P. O. Box 321 Khartoum, Sudan Non-geographic morphometric variation particularly at the level of sexual dimorphism and age variation has been extensively documented in many organisms including rodents, and is useful for establishing whether to analyse sexes separately or together and for selecting adult specimens to consider for subsequent data recording and analysis. However, such studies have largely been based on linear measurement-based traditional morphometric analyses that mainly focus on the partitioning of overall size- rather than shape-related morphological variation. Nevertheless, recent advances in unit-free, landmark/outline-based geometric morphometric analyses offer a new tool to assess shape-related morphological variation. In the present study, we used geometric morphometric analysis to comparatively evaluate non-geographic variation in two geographically disparate murid rodent species, Aethmoys ineptus from South Africa and Arvicanthis niloticus from Sudan , the results of which are also compared with previously published results based on traditional morphometric data. Our results show that while the results of the traditional morphometric analyses of both species were congruent, they were not sensitive enough to detect some signals of non-geographic morphological variation.
    [Show full text]
  • IRBP) in Ground Squirrels and Blind Mole Rats
    Molecular Evolution of the Interphotoreceptor Retinoid Binding Protein (IRBP) in Ground Squirrels and Blind Mole Rats Research Thesis Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with Research Distinction in Biology in the Undergraduate Colleges of The Ohio State University by Bethany N. Army The Ohio State University December 2015 Project Advisor: Dr. Ryan W. Norris, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Abstract Blind mole rats are subterranean rodents and spend most of their lifetime underground. Because these mammals live in a dark environment, their eyes have physically changed and even the role played by their eyes has changed. The processing of visual information begins in the retina, with the detection of light by photoreceptor cells. Interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) is a transport protein, which facilitates exchange between photoreceptors and retinal-pigmented epithelium. The IRBP gene has been commonly used in rodent phylogenetic analyses, so I analyzed IRBP in blind mole rats to interpret its evolution and to see if there were any changes among the amino acids in the protein. To do this I used molecular data (cytochrome b and IRBP) from two groups of rodents, the muroids and the marmotines. I constructed phylogenetic trees and interpreted the amino acid sequence of IRBP. Blind mole rats had a slower rate of evolution than expected, but there were changes along the amino acid sequence of IRBP, which may indicate that the IRBP gene is functioning in a specialized way to meet the needs of the particular lifestyle of this mammal. Introduction: Blind mole rats, subfamily Spalacinae, are burrowing mammals that spend most of their life underground.
    [Show full text]