Molecular perspective on the American transisthmian species of Macrobrachium (Caridea, Palaemonidae).

ABSTRACT: The closure of the Isthmus of Panama (about 3.1 million years ago) separated previously continuous populations and created two groups of extant species, which live now in the Pacific and Atlantic drainage systems. This relatively recent event was a trigger to diversification of various species in the Neotropics, nonetheless there are exemplars that do not show sufficient morphologic variability to separate them by traditional morphological tools. About 60 years ago, some freshwater decapod species with high morphological similarity were separate by previous researchers, based on geographical distribution, in Pacific and Atlantic and considered as "sister species". However, the complete isolation of these prawns by this geographical barrier is questionable, and it has generated doubts about

SUBMITTER: Pileggi LG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4283367 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature