Search

Simple Summary: The genus Crocidura has ~200 species, which accounts for roughly half of the Soricidae family's diversity. The "pergrisea" species group, which comprises at least four species—Crocidura arispa, Crocidura pergrisea, Crocidura ramona, and Crocidura serezkyensis—is especially interesting among Crocidura endemics of central and western Asian regions. The taxonomic value of a fifth species, Crocidura armenica, has been unclear for a long time owing to the poor condition of the skulls of both type specimens. Using a microcomputed-tomography-based cybertaxonomic (CTtax) approach and a newly developed pipeline, "AProMaDesU", we re-evaluated the type material of the Armenian shrew and expanded the hypodigm of this species using three additional specimens. A morphospace analysis based on three-dimensional craniomandibular datasets revealed the uniqueness of C. armenica and C. arispa. The extraction of museum DNA from a unique collection of samples of the "Crocidura pergrisea" species complex, which comprises local endemics of Central and West Asia, allowed us to determine their inter- and intragroup relationships. The first step of this study was the re-evaluation of heavily damaged type specimens of C. armenica via a microcomputed-tomography-based cybertaxonomic approach (CTtax), which enabled a precise description of the species' morphology; three-dimensional models of the cybertypes were made available through the MorphoBank Repository. We developed the "AProMaDesU" pipeline on the basis of five requirements for micro-CT-based cyber-datasets in relation to mammalian collections. Our second step was a combination of several meticulous approaches to morphological investigation against a background of a cytb-based phylogeny, which helped us to make a taxonomic decision about the status of species of the "pergrisea" group, e.g., C. arispa, C. armenica, and C. serezkyensis, when the morphological results were partly incongruent with the molecular phylogeny. Nevertheless, under two assumptions, our findings preserved a separate species-level status of C. serezkyensis and C. arispa. In addition, we restored the species-level status of C. armenica. This taxonomic decision is based on our morphospace analysis, which revealed unique craniomandibular shape transformations within the rocky shrews that helped them with the transition to a new area of morphospace/trophic niches and consequently separated them from the other analyzed Crocidura groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phylogenetic relationships, taxonomy and nomenclature issues within East Asian voles Alexandromys were addressed using comprehensive species samples, including all 12 valid species of the genus, and multilocus analysis. We examined the mitochondrial cytochrome b ( cytb) gene and three nuclear genes in 36 specimens. Additionally, we examined a data set of 106 specimens using only the cytb gene. Our results did not confirm the aggregation of A. kikuchii, A. montebelli and A. oeconomus into a separate clade, namely the subgenus Pallasiinus. Analysis of incomplete lineage sorting using JML software highlighted both the cases of mitochondrial introgression and incomplete lineage sorting within the genus. Thus, the sister position of A. sachalinensis and A. maximowiczii in mitochondrial trees could be explained by mitochondrial introgression, while the sister position of A. limnophilus and A. fortis in mitochondrial trees could be successfully explained by incomplete lineage sorting. Very short genetic distances, together with an absence of monophyly, of the three species, A. evoronensis, A. mujanensis and A. maximowiczii, is supported by multiple morphological data, which indicates that these three taxa should be one species- A. maximowiczii. Analysis of genetic distances and tree topology revealed that three species of short-tailed voles- A. middendorffii, A. mongolicus and A. gromovi-are more closely related to each other than to other established species of Alexandromys. The lacustrine vole, A. limnophilus, is closely related to the group of short-tailed voles. Analysis of the type specimens of limnophilus and flaviventris confirmed that these taxa form one species together with A. l. malygini. Our results suggest that the mountains of western Mongolia are inhabited by a new taxon of short-tailed voles of the same rank as middendorffii, mongolicus and gromovi- A. m. alpinus ssp. n. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent study on Lasiopodomys ( Stenocranius) gregalis has revealed four clear mitochondrial lineages with differences exceeding the species level. The most divergent is the clade from south-eastern Transbaikalia. Multilocus (six nuclear genes), morphological (dental characters of m1 and M3) and behavioural (breeding experiments) analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that L. gregalis is a complex of two cryptic species. All of the applied methods distinguish the independent status of voles from south-eastern Transbaikalia. This clade occupies a portion of the distribution range of the currently valid subspecies L. g. raddei including its terra typica. According to the results of cyt b analysis, the lectotype of L. g. raddei belongs to the Transbaikal clade. We re-establish the species status for the taxon Lasiopodomys raddei including populations from south-eastern Transbaikalia, as a cryptic species of the narrow-headed vole complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A species-wide phylogeographic study of the narrow-headed vole Lasiopodomys ( Stenocranius) gregalis was performed using the mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b gene. We examined 164 specimens from 50 localities throughout the species distribution range. Phylogeographic pattern clearly demonstrates the division into four major mt DNA lineages with further subdivision. The level of genetic differentiation between them was found to be extremely high even for the species level: about 6-11%. The most striking result of our study is extremely high mutation rate of cytb in L. gregalis. Our estimates suggested its value of 3.1 × 10−5 that is an order of magnitude higher than previous estimates for Microtus species. The mean estimated time of basal differentiation of the narrow-headed vole is about 0.8 Mya. This time estimate is congruent with the known paleontological record. The greatest mitochondrial diversity is found in Southern Siberia where all four lineages occur; therewith, three of them are distributed exclusively in that area. The lineage that is distributed in south-eastern Transbaikalia is the earliest derivate and exhibits the highest genetic divergence from all the others (11%). It is quite probable that with further research, this lineage will turn out to represent a cryptic species. Spatial patterns of genetic variation in populations of the narrow-headed vole within the largest mt lineage indicate the normal or stepping stone model of dispersal to the north and south-west from the Altay region in Middle Pleistocene. Both paleontological data and genetic diversity estimates suggest that this species was very successful during most of the Pleistocene, and we propose that climate humidification and wide advance of tree vegetation at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary promoted range decrease and fragmentation for this typical member of tundra-steppe faunistic complex. However, we still observe high genetic diversity within isolated fragments of the range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Asian mountain voles Alticola is one of the least known groups of voles both in evolution and life history. This genus includes three subgenera Alticola s.str. , Aschizomys and Platycranius, and belongs to the tribe Clethrionomyini comprising also red-backed voles Clethrionomys and oriental voles Eothenomys. In order to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships within Alticola and to examine its position within the tribe, mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) gene variation was estimated, and the results were compared with morphological and palaeontological data. Maximum likelihood (ML), neighbor-joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP) and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses show that the genus Alticola does not appear to be a monophyletic group since the representatives of Aschizomys branch within Clethrionomys, whereas two other subgenera ( Alticola and Platycranius) form a separate monophyletic clade. Flat-headed vole Alticola ( Platycranius) strelzowi is nested within the nominative subgenus showing close association with A. ( Alticola) semicanus. Surprisingly, the two species of Aschizomys do not form a monophyletic group. The results of the relaxed-clock analysis suggest that the Alticola clade splits from the Clethrionomys stem in early Middle Pliocene while basal cladogenetic events within Alticola s.str. dates back to the late Middle to early Late Pliocene. A scenario of evolution in Clethrionomyini is put forward implying rapid parallel morphological changes in different lineages leading to the formation of Alticola-like biomorphs adapted to mountain and arid petrophilous habitats. Corresponding author: Vladimir S. Lebedev, Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, B. Nikitskaya 6, 125009 Moscow, Russia. E-mail: Anna A. Bannikova, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 119992 Moscow, Russia. E-mail: Alexey S. Tesakov, Geological Institute RAS, Pyzhevsky 7, 119017 Moscow, Russia. E-mail: Natalia I. Abramson, Zoological Institute RAS, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034 St Petersburg, Russia. E-mail: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present the nearly complete mitochondrial genome of the Subalpine Kashmir vole Hyperacrius fertilis (Arvicolinae, Cricetidae, Rodentia), assembled using data from Illumina next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the DNA from a century-old museum specimen. De novo assembly consisted of 16,341 bp and included all mitogenome protein-coding genes as well as 12S and 16S RNAs, tRNAs and D-loop. Using the alignment of protein-coding genes of 14 previously published Arvicolini tribe mitogenomes, seven Clethrionomyini mitogenomes, and also Ondatra and Dicrostonyx outgroups, we conducted phylogenetic reconstructions based on a dataset of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) under maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Phylogenetic analyses robustly supported the phylogenetic position of this species within the tribe Arvicolini. Among the Arvicolini, Hyperacrius represents one of the early-diverged lineages. This result of phylogenetic analysis altered the conventional view on phylogenetic relatedness between Hyperacrius and Alticola and prompted the revision of morphological characters underlying the former assumption. Morphological analysis performed here confirmed molecular data and provided additional evidence for taxonomic replacement of the genus Hyperacrius from the tribe Clethrionomyini to the tribe Arvicolini., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2020 Abramson et al.)