Phylogeographical structure in the subterranean tuco-tuco Ctenomys talarum (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae): contrasting the demographic consequences of regional and habitat-specific histories

In this work we examined the phylogeography of the South American subterranean herbivorous rodent Ctenomys talarum (Talas tuco-tuco) using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (D-loop) sequences, and we assessed the geographical genetic structure of this species in comparison with that of subter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular ecology 2007-08, Vol.16 (16), p.3453-3465
Main Authors: MORA, MATÍAS S, LESSA, ENRIQUE P, CUTRERA, ANA P, KITTLEIN, MARCELO J, VASSALLO, ALDO I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Argentina
Atlantic Ocean
Base Sequence
Biogeography
Ctenomys australis
Ctenomys talarum
Demography
DNA - genetics
DNA - isolation & purification
Ecosystem
Genetics
Geography
Habitats
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
phylogeography
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Rodentia
Rodentia - classification
Rodentia - genetics
Rodents
subterranean rodents
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Summary:In this work we examined the phylogeography of the South American subterranean herbivorous rodent Ctenomys talarum (Talas tuco-tuco) using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (D-loop) sequences, and we assessed the geographical genetic structure of this species in comparison with that of subterranean Ctenomys australis, which we have shown previously to be parapatric to C. talarum and to also live in a coastal sand dune habitat. A significant apportionment of the genetic variance among regional groups indicated that putative geographical barriers, such as rivers, substantially affected the pattern of genetic structure in C. talarum. Furthermore, genetic differentiation is consistent with a simple model of isolation by distance, possibly evidencing equilibrium between gene flow and local genetic drift. In contrast, C. australis showed limited hierarchical partitioning of genetic variation and departed from an isolation-by-distance pattern. Mismatch distributions and tests of neutrality suggest contrasting histories of these two species: C. talarum appears to be characterized by demographic stability and no significant departures from neutrality, whereas C. australis has undergone a recent demographic expansion and/or departures from strict neutrality in its mtDNA.
ISSN:0962-1083
1365-294X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03398.x