Phylogenetic species identification in Rattus highlights rapid radiation and morphological similarity of New Guinean species.

ABSTRACT: The genus Rattus is highly speciose, the taxonomy is complex, and individuals are often difficult to identify to the species level. Previous studies have demonstrated the usefulness of phylogenetic approaches to identification in Rattus but some species, especially among the endemics of the New Guinean region, showed poor resolution. Possible reasons for this are simple misidentification, incomplete gene lineage sorting, hybridization, and phylogenetically distinct lineages that are unrecognised taxonomically. To assess these explanations we analysed 217 samples, representing nominally 25 Rattus species, collected in New Guinea, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. To reduce misidentification problems we sequenced museum specimens from earlier morphological studies and recently collected tissu

SUBMITTER: Robins JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4035291 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature