We describe Halmaheramys bokimekot Fabre, Pagès, Musser, Fitriana, Semiadi & Helgen gen. et sp. nov., a new genus and species of murine rodent from the North Moluccas, and study its phylogenetic placement using both molecular and morphological data. We generated a densely sampled mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data set that included most genera of Indo-Pacific Murinae, and used probabilistic methodologies to infer their phylogenetic relationships. To reconstruct their biogeographical history, we first dated the topology and then used a Lagrange analysis to infer ancestral geographic areas. Finally, we combined the ancestral area reconstructions with temporal information to compare patterns of murine colonization among Indo-Pacific archipelagos. We provide a new and comprehensive molecular phylogenetic reconstruction for Indo-Pacific Murinae, with a focus on the Rattus division. Using previous results and those presented in this study, we define a new Indo-Pacific group within the Rattus division, composed of Bullimus, Bunomys, Paruromys, Halmaheramys, Sundamys, and Taeromys. Our phylogenetic reconstructions revealed a relatively recent diversification from the Middle Miocene to Plio-Pleistocene associated with several major dispersal events. We identified two independent Indo-Pacific dispersal events from both western and eastern Indo-Pacific archipelagos to the isolated island of Halmahera, which led to the speciations of H. bokimekot gen. et sp. nov. and Rattus morotaiensis Kellogg, 1945. We propose that a Middle Miocene collision between the Halmahera and Sangihe arcs may have been responsible for the arrival of the ancestor of Halmaheramys to eastern Wallacea. Halmaheramys bokimekot gen. et sp. nov. is described in detail, and its systematics and biogeography are documented and illustrated.

Abstract. A survey of small mammals from Mt. Tay Con Linh II, Ha Giang Province, Vietnam (22°45'27"N, 104°49'49"E) resulted in the capture of 17 species of bat, insectivore, and rodent: Cynopterus sphinx, Rousettus leschenaulti, Sphaerias blanfordi, Scaptonyx fusicaudus, Chodsigoa parca, Chodsigoa caovansunga new species, Blarinella griselda, Crocidura attenuata, Crocidura fuliginosa, Crocidura wuchihensis, Belomys pearsonii, Callosciurus inornatus, Leopoldamys edwardsi, Niviventer fulvescens, Niviventer langbianis, Niviventer tenaster and Chiropodomys gliroides. In addition Ratufa bicolor and Tamiops sp. are reported from observations. Scaptonyx fusicaudus and Blarinella griselda represent new distributional records for Vietnam. As part of the process of identifying specimens of Vietnamese Chodsigoa, we examined specimens of C. lamula and C. parva, including the holotype of parva and concluded that C. parva is not synonymous with C. lamula but actually represents a separate, very small species currently known only from the type locality in Yunnan, China.Key words: biodiversity, Chodsigoa, mammals, Vietnam.Vietnam's northern frontier was once an expanse of subtropical forest but is now almost entirely converted to grassland or savanna (Wikramanayake et al. 2002). Only very small fragments of forest remain in secluded mountainous regions but these are currently under threat, and the opportunity to study their native fauna is fast disappearing (MacKinnon 1997;Wikramanayake et al. 2002). As part of an effort to document small mammal species diversity from this region we surveyed Mt. Tay Con Linh II (22°45'27"N, 104°49'49"E; Fig. 1). Subtropical forest still exists here at altitudes above approximately 1200 m and from our base camp at 1400 m we collected small mammals along a transect extending all the way to the summit at 2200 m. Descriptions of habitats encountered along our study transect are as follows:1250-1550 m -Disturbed subtropical forest with an estimated canopy height of between 20-25 m. There was a lush understory of shrubs, saplings and woody lianas. Most canopy trees were about 60 cm diameter breast height (dbh) but on precipitous slopes we ob-* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: lunde@amnh.org

Submission procedures can be found at http://research.amnh.org/scipubs On the cover: Dense, long, and silky-soft fur, brownishgray upperparts, grayish-white underparts, gray ears, white feet, and a bicolored tail characterize Bunomys penitus, one of eight documented species of Bunomys, all endemic to forested landscapes on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Nocturnal and terrestrial, B. penitus lives only in mountainforests where the ambience is cool and wet, the trees and ground covered with thick moss and epiphytes; its diet includes invertebrates, fungi, and fruit.

We describe a new species of Oecomys, O. sydandersoni (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae), from the Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado in eastern Bolivia. One of its diagnostic traits, a derived carotid circulatory plan, provides morphological evidence for its close relationship to O. concolor and O. mamorae among the 15 species of Oecomys currently recognized. Notwithstanding this shared trait, other morphological contrasts and morphometric analyses demonstrate the sharp differentiation of the eastern Bolivian form from both of those species. Oecomys sydandersoni, n. sp., is arboreal and was encountered above ground on limbs and woody vines only in densely wooded hummocks scattered through grassland, in contrast to adjacent closed tropical deciduous forest where three other species of Oecomys (O. bicolor, O. roberti, O. trinitatis) were obtained. The new species represents the fourth sigmodontine rodent to be named from this restricted region within eastern Bolivia since 1999. Its documentation served as a platform to summarize the nomenclatural history, morphological recognition, and geographic distribution of O. concolor (Wagner, 1845) and O. mamorae (Thomas, 1906) based on fresh examination of all type material and museum specimens. diagnosticas, el plan de circulation carotideo derivado, provee evidencia de su relation cercana con O. concolor y O. mamorae entre las 15 especies de Oecomys reconocidas hasta la fecha. Ademas de esta caracteristica compartida, otras caracteristicas morfologicas y analisis morfometricos demuestran la gran differentiation de la forma del este boliviano de las otras dos especies. Oecomys sydandersoni, n. sp., es una especie arboricola y fue encontrada sobre el nivel del suelo en ramas y lianas, solamente en montecillos boscosos esparcidos por la sabana, a diferencia del bosque adyacente tropical deciduo donde las otras tres especies de Oecomys (O. bicolor, O. roberti, O. trinitatis) fueron encontradas. Esta nueva especie es el cuarto roedor sigmodontino descrito para esta zona del este boliviano desde 1999. Su documentation sirve como una tribuna para compendiar la historia natural, el reconocimiento morfologico, y la distribution geografica de O. concolor (Wagner, 1845) y O. mamorae (Thomas, 1906) basados en la examination del material tipo y de especimenes de museo.

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Volume 40, no. 12, p. 4493-4498, 2002. Our publication failed to note that the Nepal rodent hepatitis E virus (HEV) sequence reported (GenBank no. AF396860) was 100% homologous with HEV strain Pakistan-Abbottabad-2B (HEV2B). This error occurred because the phyologenetic analysis presented considered an HEV strain set that did not include the HEV2B sequence (J. He, L. N. Binn, S. A. Tsarev, C. C. Hayes, J. A. Frean, M. Isaacson, and B. L. Innis, J. Biomed. Sci. 7:334-338, 2000). Because HEV2B was handled in the laboratory where the rodent specimens were analyzed, the complete sequence homology suggests that the Nepal rodent HEV sequence (identical for four animals) represents possible laboratory contamination. Contamination may have occurred despite precautions taken to avoid and detect contamination (HEV2B was not in use in the laboratory during the time of the testing, and all negative controls remained negative). Reanalysis of the specimens in a laboratory unexposed to HEV is impossible, as all serum specimens from the four positive animals have been exhausted. Although we reaffirm the validity of the serological evidence presented that rodents serve as an HEV reservoir for humans in Nepal, we withdraw the claim of HEV genome detection in rodents. Therefore, we retract our paper from the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and the sequence information from GenBank. 1208on May 3, 2019 by guest

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