Systematics of theNeotoma mexicanaspecies group (Mammalia: Rodentia: Cricetidae) in Mesoamerica: new molecular evidence on the status and relationships ofN. ferrugineaTomes, 1862

Mitochondrial DNA indicate paraphyletic relationships and resolve disjunct distributions in the Neotoma mexicana species group

“…The heterogenous topography of southern México, and Pleistocene climatic changes, generated complex biogeographic patterns and high species diversity in vertebrates (León-Paniagua and Morrone 2009; Morrone 2017), especially in small mammals (Vallejo and González-Cózatl 2012;Guevara and Cervantes 2014;León-Paniagua and Guevara 2019). Many of the region's mammals possess conservative morphologies; therefore, the number of species and their phylogenetic relationships are not entirely understood (Sullivan et al 1997;Ordóñez-Garza et al 2014;Pérez-Consuegra and Vázquez-Domínguez 2017). Without an adequate taxonomy, it is impossible to understand fundamental aspects of the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity (Upham et al 2019).…”

“…Woodrats of the genus Neotoma comprise at least 24 species, distributed across portions of southern Canada and most of the continental United States and México, reaching Central America (Edwards and Bradley 2002a;Longhofer and Bradley 2006;Pardiñas et al 2017). Although Neo-toma has been studied for almost 200 years, phylogenetic relationships and species limits are not entirely resolved (Edwards and Bradley 2002a;Longhofer and Bradley 2006;Matocq et al 2007;Ordóñez-Garza et al 2014) because some species and subspecies are rare and/or have restricted distributions that are poorly sampled (Rogers et al 2011;Fernández 2014).…”

“…However, all species and subspecies in the N. mexicana species group, except N. chrysomelas, were relegated to subspecific status within N. mexicana by Hall (1955), and later, Anderson (1972) synonymized the subspecies N. m. madrensis with N. m. mexicana. As defined by these revisions, the N. mexicana species group inhabits montane areas from northern Colorado throughout much of New México and western Arizona south to western Nicaragua (Edwards and Bradley 2002b;Ordóñez-Garza et al 2014).…”

“…Although several studies have investigated the phylogenetic relationships among Neotoma species (Edwards and Bradley 2002a;Longhofer and Bradley 2006;Matocq et al 2007), only two have focused on the N. mexicana species group (Edwards and Bradley 2002b;Ordóñez-Garza et al 2014). Using mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt-b) sequences, Bradley (2002b), andOrdóñez-Garza et al (2014) concluded that this species group includes at least the species N. mexicana from the United States through northern and central México and south of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt in southeastern México and Central America, N. picta in the Sierra Madre del Sur from Guerrero, N. ferruginea from western portions of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec south to El Salvador, and Neotoma chrysomelas, which inhabits parts of Honduras and Nicaragua (Pardiñas et al 2017). After these taxonomic changes, 19 subspecies of N. mexicana and four subspecies of N. ferruginea are recognized, whereas N. picta and N. chrysomelas are monotypic (Pardiñas et al 2017).…”

“…Despite the progress on the systematics and phylogenetic relationships in the N. mexicana species group, no samples of some subspecies have been analyzed with genetic data. These include N. m. parvidens, N. m. tropicalis from Oaxaca, or N. m. solitaria from Central America, and these three subspecies, with disjunct geographic ranges, have remained in N. mexicana (Edwards and Bradley 2002b;Ordóñez-Garza et al 2014;Pardiñas et al 2017; Figure 1). Nevertheless, Edwards and Bradley (2002b) suggested that individuals from southeastern Oaxaca and east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (possibly including N. m. solitaria from Guatemala and Honduras) are N. ferruginea, specimens from the Sierra Madre del Sur in Guerrero (and possibly including N. m. parvidens from the Sierra Sur de Oaxaca) are N. picta, and all samples in northern Oaxaca (possibly including N. m. tropicalis from Sierra Norte de Oaxaca and hills near the Chiapas border) represent N. mexicana.…”