A new sibling species of Taterillus (Muridae, Gerbillinae) from West Africa

详细信息    查看全文

• 作者：G. Dobigny ; L. Granjon ; V. Aniskin ; K. Ba ; V. Volobouev
• 关键词：Rodentia ; chromosomal evolution ; cytotaxonomy ; morphometry ; systematics ; Africa
• 刊名：Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde
• 出版年：2003
• 出版时间：2003
• 年：2003
• 卷：68
• 期：5
• 页码：299-316
• 全文大小：1078 K

文摘

Modern systematics can now rely on powerful discriminating techniques, such as cytogenetics. As a result, a growing number of sibling species has been described in a variety of taxa. Among mammals, this is particularly true in rodents. Here, we describe a new species of <i>Taterillusi> (Rodentia, Gerbillinae), namely <i>Taterillus tranierii> sp. n. based on specimens from Mali and Mauritania. Neither external and cranial morphology nor morphometrics taking size and shape into account could lead to a satisfying diagnosis of this species relative to the four West African species known in this genus. Conversely, this new species could be characterized by a very specific karyotype (with 2N=14/15, the lowest diploid number in gerbilline rodents, NFa=22–24) differing from that of its closest relative <i>Taterillus petterii> (2N=18/19, NFa=28) by two tandem translocations accompanied by 2 centromere activations/desactivations, one non reciprocal translocation, and three pericentric inversions. In addition to providing non-ambiguous arguments in favour of the description of this taxon as a new biological species, these chromosomal results confirm the complex karyotypic evolution of <i>Taterillusi>. Furthermore, this study illustrates how cytogenetics can contribute to the description of sibling species and hence to biodiversity. These cryptic taxa also constitute valuable support for evolutionary studies, especially concerning speciation processes. They also represent important issues in applied research such as in conservation biology or pest species control. The routine use of cytogenetics for species characterization will undoubtedly constitute a powerful diagnostic tool in these contexts.