Dataset Information

A phylogenetic estimate for golden moles (Mammalia, Afrotheria, Chrysochloridae).

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Golden moles (Chrysochloridae) are small, subterranean, afrotherian mammals from South Africa and neighboring regions. Of the 21 species now recognized, some (e.g., Chrysochloris asiatica, Amblysomus hottentotus) are relatively common, whereas others (e.g., species of Chrysospalax, Cryptochloris, Neamblysomus) are rare and endangered. Here, we use a combined analysis of partial sequences of the nuclear GHR gene and morphological characters to derive a phylogeny of species in the family Chrysochloridae. RESULTS: Although not all nodes of the combined analysis have high support values, the overall pattern of relationships obtained from different methods of phylogeny reconstruction allow us to make several recommendations regarding the current taxonomy of golden moles. We elevate Huetia to generic status to include the species leucorhinus and confirm the use of the Linnean binomial Carpitalpa arendsi, which belongs within Amblysominae along with Amblysomus and Neamblysomus. A second group, Chrysochlorinae, includes Chrysochloris, Cryptochloris, Huetia, Eremitalpa, Chrysospalax, and Calcochloris. Bayesian methods make chrysochlorines paraphyletic by placing the root within them, coinciding with root positions favored by a majority of randomly-generated outgroup taxa. Maximum Parsimony (MP) places the root either between chrysochlorines and amblysomines (with Chlorotalpa as sister taxon to amblysomines), or at Chlorotalpa, with the former two groups reconstructed as monophyletic in all optimal MP trees. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of additional genetic loci for this clade is important to confirm our taxonomic results and resolve the chrysochlorid root. Nevertheless, our optimal topologies support a division of chrysochlorids into amblysomines and chrysochlorines, with Chlorotalpa intermediate between the two. Furthermore, evolution of the chrysochlorid malleus exhibits homoplasy. The elongate malleus has evolved just once in the Cryptochloris-Chrysochloris group; other changes in shape have occurred at multiple nodes, regardless of how the root is resolved.

SUBMITTER: Asher RJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2850353 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A phylogenetic estimate for golden moles (Mammalia, Afrotheria, Chrysochloridae).

Asher Robert J RJ Maree Sarita S Bronner Gary G Bennett Nigel C NC Bloomer Paulette P Czechowski Paul P Meyer Matthias M Hofreiter Michael M

BMC evolutionary biology 20100309

<h4>Background</h4>Golden moles (Chrysochloridae) are small, subterranean, afrotherian mammals from South Africa and neighboring regions. Of the 21 species now recognized, some (e.g., Chrysochloris asiatica, Amblysomus hottentotus) are relatively common, whereas others (e.g., species of Chrysospalax, Cryptochloris, Neamblysomus) are rare and endangered. Here, we use a combined analysis of partial sequences of the nuclear GHR gene and morphological characters to derive a phylogeny of species in t ...[more]

PMID: 20214773

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Project description:Ursidae is a monophyletic group comprised of three subfamilies: Tremarctinae, Ursinae and Ailuropodinae, all of which have a rich geographical distribution. The phylogenetic relationships within the Ursidae group have been underexamined, especially regarding morphological traits such as the basicranium. Importantly, the basicranium is a highly complex region that covers a small portion of the skull, combining both structural and functional aspects that determine its morphology. Phylogenetic hypotheses of the Ursidae (including Tremarctinae) have been made based on morphological characters that considers skull, mandible and teeth features, while specific characters of the auditory region and basicranium have not been taken into account. To do this, we analyse the shape and size macroevolution of the basicranium of Ursidae, testing its morphological disparity in a phylogenetic context, which is quantified by means of the phylogenetic signal. We investigated phylogenetical autocorrelation by shape (depicted by Principal Components Analysis scores from previous published analyses) and basicranium size (depicted by centroid size, CS) using an orthonormal decomposition analysis and Abouheif C mean. The main advantages of these methods are that they rely exclusively on cladogram topology and do not require branch-length estimates. Also, an optimisation of the ancestral nodes was performed using TNT 1.5 software. In relation to the phylogenetic signal, both methods showed similar results: the presence of autocorrelation was detected in PC1 and PC2, while in PC3, PC4 and PC5 and in the size of the basicranium (CS), the absence of autocorrelation occurred. The most significant nodes (where there is autocorrelation) are the basal nodes 'Ursidae' and 'Ursinae-Tremarctinae'. Within this last group, distinctive basicranium morphology is observed, being more conservative in Tremarctinae than in Ursinae. The differences between these subfamilies could be related to historical events involving varying food and environmental preferences. The high phylogenetic signal in the node Tremarctinae probably indicates that the basicranium configuration of these bears was obtained early in their evolutionary history. Finally, our results of the basicranium and skull length ratios indicate that in Tremarctinae, the basicranium size was not determined by phylogeny but instead by other factors, such as adaptive responses to climatic changes and competition with other carnivores.

Dataset Information

A phylogenetic estimate for golden moles (Mammalia, Afrotheria, Chrysochloridae).

Publications

A phylogenetic estimate for golden moles (Mammalia, Afrotheria, Chrysochloridae).

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