Museomics of tree squirrels: a dense taxon sampling of mitogenomes reveals hidden diversity, phenotypic convergence, and the need of a taxonomic overhaul.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tree squirrels (Sciuridae, Sciurini), in particular the highly diverse Neotropical lineages, are amongst the most rapidly diversifying branches of the mammal tree of life but also some of the least known. Negligence of this group by systematists is likely a product of the difficulties in assessing morphological informative traits and of the scarcity or unavailability of fresh tissue samples for DNA sequencing. The highly discrepant taxonomic arrangements are a consequence of the lack of phylogenies and the exclusive phenotypic-based classifications, which can be misleading in a group with conservative morphology. Here we used high-throughput sequencing and an unprecedented sampling of museum specimens to provide the first comprehensive phylogeny of tree squirrels, with a

SUBMITTER: de Abreu-Jr EF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7320592 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature