Hidden Identities: Cryptic Species in the Otomys Genus (Cuvier 1824) (Rodentia: Muridae: Otomyinae) Revealed by Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA in South Africa

Phukuntsi, Metlholo Andries; Kearney, Teresa; Brettschneider, Helene; Dalton, Desiré L.; Oosthuizen, Maria Magdalena; Goldner, Gerhard; Badenhorst, J.; Kotzé, Antoinette

doi:10.4172/2329-9002.1000168

Cited by 6 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The present study focuses on the phylogeography, taxonomy and phylogeny of these two species groups, together with a third species, O. sloggetti (ice rats), whose distributional limits and subspecies taxonomy have also been subject to debate and for which new molecular and morphological data are presented from various grassland sites in the high Drakensberg escarpment from slightly > 2000 to > 3000 m a.s.l. (present study; Phukuntsi et al, 2016). Ice rats are herbivorous, burrow-dwelling rodents, currently endemic to the southern African Drakensberg and Maluti mountains at elevations > 2000 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Craniodental characters were also scored for an additional 12 voucher specimens (seven O. cf. karoensis and five O. sloggetti) from the study of Phukuntsi et al (2016), currently housed at TM. Samples from the Sneeuberg Range were trapped between elevations of 1740 and 2150 m a.s.l., in relatively undisturbed habitats (Table 1), and the habitat at each site was characterized according to its vegetation and physical characteristics.…”

Section: Study Area and Sampling Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These GenBank sequences have been published previously by Ducroz et al (2001) and Taylor et al (2009aTaylor et al ( , b, 2011Taylor et al ( , 2014. Furthermore, we obtained 28 Cytb sequences of 470 bp from the study by Phukuntsi et al (2016). Alignment of these sequences for phylogenetic analysis was achieved using MEGA v.7 (Kumar et al, 2016).…”

Section: Sequence Editing and Alignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are two genera, Otomys F. Cuvier, 1824 andParotomys Thomas, 1918. It has been suggested that Otomys is polyphyletic with respect to arid-adapted Parotomys (whistling rats), because some Otomys species, such as Sloggett's ice rat (Otomys sloggetti Thomas, 1902) and the bush Karoo rat (Otomys unisulcatus F. Cuvier, 1829), are more closely related to Parotomys than to Otomys (Taylor et al, 1989(Taylor et al, , 2004a(Taylor et al, , 2009a(Taylor et al, , 2011(Taylor et al, , 2014Phukuntsi et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kok, personal communication; present study). Furthermore, Phukuntsi et al (2016) recorded O. sloggetti and O. karoensis s.l. (which they termed 'lower sloggetti') cohabiting in the same burrows at Tiffendell at 2700 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)

Taylor

Kearney

Dalton

et al. 2019

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Mitochondrial DNA sequences (1137 bp) of the cytochrome b gene and craniodental and craniometric data were used to investigate the evolutionary relationships of six putative rodent taxa of Otomys (family Muridae: subfamily Murinae: tribe Otomyini) co-occurring in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. Phylogenetic analysis of 20 new sequences together with craniodental and craniometric characters of 94 adult skulls reveal the existence of a unique lineage of Otomys cf. karoensis (named herein Otomys willani sp. nov.) from the Sneeuberg Centre of Floristic Endemism in the southern Drakensberg Mountain Range. Craniometric analysis distinguished O. karoensis from O. willani and identified a further four localities in the range of the latter species. We document southern range extensions of both Sloggett’s ice rat, Otomys sloggetti, and the vlei rat Otomys auratus to the Sneeuberg Mountain Range, in addition to appreciable genetic divergence between Sneeuberg and southern and central Drakensberg populations of O. sloggetti. Our results demonstrate parallel patterns of cryptic speciation in two co-occurring species complexes (Otomys irroratus s.l. and O. karoensis s.l.) associated closely with the boundaries of biomes (fynbos vs. grassland biomes) and geological formations (Cape Fold Belt vs. Great Escarpment).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Study Area and Sampling Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sequence Editing and Alignmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)

Taylor

Kearney

Dalton

et al. 2019

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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Morphological variations of auditory bullae in otomyine rodents (Rodentia: Otomyini) in southern African biomes

Edwards,

Bessinger

2024

Journal of Morphology

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Mammalian middle ear cavities differ from those of other taxa as they comprise three ossicles and in rodents, can be encapsulated by an auditory bulla. In small mammals, the middle ear cavity (bulla) was found to be enlarged in the desert‐dwelling species; however, differences in bullar size could have been due to ancestry. In this study, we sampled seven species from three genera (Myotomys, Otomys, and Parotomys) of the African murid tribe Otomyini (laminated‐toothed rats), and compared the bullar volumes and shapes between the otomyine species and within the species Myotomys unisulcatus. Photographs of museum skull specimens were taken from ventral and lateral views, and the volumes of the bullae were estimated digitally from the photographs. No sexual dimorphism in bullar volumes was found in any of the species. Corrected bullar volumes were significantly different between species and larger bullae were seen in individuals inhabiting regions with lower annual rainfall. Bullar shape (estimated using geometric morphometrics) was significantly different between the genera and the species. Parotomys have tympanic meatuses that face more anteriorly compared to both, Otomys and Myotomys. When comparing bullae within M. unisulcatus, those inhabiting regions with lower annual rainfall had significantly larger bullar volumes, but no significant difference was found in bullar shape between the regions. This study shows that otomyine rodents in more xeric habitats have different auditory structures to those inhabiting wetter habitats.

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Diversification and evolutionary history of the African laminated-toothed rats (Rodentia, Otomyini)

Montgelard

Muller

Arnal

et al. 2023

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

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Hidden Identities: Cryptic Species in the Otomys Genus (Cuvier 1824) (Rodentia: Muridae: Otomyinae) Revealed by Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA in South Africa

Cited by 6 publications

References 28 publications

Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)

Biomes, geology and past climate drive speciation of laminate-toothed rats on South African mountains (Murinae: Otomys)

Morphological variations of auditory bullae in otomyine rodents (Rodentia: Otomyini) in southern African biomes

Diversification and evolutionary history of the African laminated-toothed rats (Rodentia, Otomyini)

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