Phylogeny and evolution ofLasiopodomysin subfamily Arvivolinae based on mitochondrial genomics

Abstract

The species of Lasiopodomys Lataste 1887 with their related genera remains undetermined owing to inconsistent morphological characteristics and molecular phylogeny. To investigate the phylogenetic relationship and speciation among species of the genus Lasiopodomys, we sequenced and annotated the whole mitochondrial genomes of three individual species, namely Lasiopodomys brandtii Radde 1861, L. mandarinus Milne-Edwards 1871, and Neodon (Lasiopodomys) fuscus Büchner 1889. The nucleotide sequences of the circular mitogenomes were identical for each individual species of L. brandtii, L. mandarinus, and N. fuscus. Each species contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs, and 2 ribosomal RNAs, with mitochondrial genome lengths of 16,557 bp, 16,562 bp, and 16,324 bp, respectively. The mitogenomes and PCGs showed positive AT skew and negative GC skew. Mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses suggested that L. brandtii, L. mandarinus, and L. gregalis Pallas 1779 belong to the genus Lasiopodomys, whereas N. fuscus belongs to the genus Neodon grouped with N. irene. Lasiopodomys showed the closest relationship with Microtus fortis Büchner 1889 and M. kikuchii Kuroda 1920, which are considered as the paraphyletic species of genera Microtus. TMRCA and niche model analysis revealed that Lasiopodomys may have first appeared during the early Pleistocene epoch. Further, L. gregalis separated from others over 1.53 million years ago (Ma) and then diverged into L. brandtii and L. mandarinus 0.76 Ma. The relative contribution of climatic fluctuations to speciation and selection in this group requires further research.

Voles and Lemmings (Arvicolinae) of the Palaearctic Region

“…Robovský et al (2008:581) regarded a full-genus status for Stenocranius (without Lasiopodomys) as "the least problematic taxonomic solution" in their revision of arvicolines. The time of TMRCA for Lasiopodomys-Stenocranius is estimated at 1.53 Mya (Shi et al 2021). We therefore continue to treat Stenocranius as a genus distinct from Lasiopodomys.…”

“…We therefore continue to treat Stenocranius as a genus distinct from Lasiopodomys. The latter contains 2 monospecific subgenera with TMRCA dated to ~0.7 Mya (Li et al 2017, Shi et al 2021.…”

Contribution to the Knowledge of Dicranoptychini (Diptera, Tipuloidea, Limoniidae) in China, with the First Mitochondrial Genome of the Tribe and Its Phylogenetic Implications

“…The descriptions and illustrations of the males and females, as well as the first key to Chinese Dicranoptycha crane flies based on the type and non-type specimens and literature, are presented. Due to maternal inheritance, rapid evolution, and highly conserved gene content, the mitochondrial (mt) genome has been widely used in insect phylogenetic research [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 ]. In 2016, we reported the first three mt genomes of Limoniidae [ 5 ].…”