Pleistocene climatic oscillations in Neotropical open areas: Refuge isolation in the rodent Oxymycterus nasutus endemic to grasslands.

ABSTRACT: Pleistocene climatic oscillations favoured the expansion of grassland ecosystems and open vegetation landscapes throughout the Neotropics, and influenced the evolutionary history of species adapted to such environments. In this study, we sampled populations of the rodent Oxymycterus nasutus endemic to open areas in the Pampas and Atlantic Forest biomes to assess the tempo and mode of population divergence using an integrative approach, including coalescence theory, ecological niche models, and morphometry. Our results indicated that these O. nasutus populations exhibited high levels of genetic structure. Six major mtDNA clades were found, structuring these biomes into distinct groups. Estimates of their divergence times was indicated to be 0.571 myr. The high degree of genetic structure is

SUBMITTER: Pecanha WT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5703582 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature