The flying squirrels(Pteromyini,Rodentia)are the most diverse and widely distributed group of gliding mammals.Taxonomic boundaries and relationships within flying squirrels remain an area of active research in mammalo...The flying squirrels(Pteromyini,Rodentia)are the most diverse and widely distributed group of gliding mammals.Taxonomic boundaries and relationships within flying squirrels remain an area of active research in mammalogy.The discovery of new specimens of Pteromys(Hylopetes)leonardi Thomas,1921,previously considered a synonym of Hylopetes alboniger,in Yunnan Province,China allowed a morphological and genetic reassessment of the status of this taxon.Phylogenetic reconstruction was implemented using sequences of two mitochondrial(12S ribosomal RNA and 16S ribosomal RNA)and one nuclear(interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein)gene fragments.Morphological assessments involved examinations of features preserved on skins,skulls,and penises of museum specimens,supplemented with principal component analysis of craniometric data.Together these assessments revealed that this taxon should be recognized not only as a distinct species,but should also be placed within a new genus,described here as Priapomys gen.nov.展开更多
The small-eared shrew genus Cryptotis is the third largest in the family Soricidae and occurs in North,Central,and northern South America.In Mexico and Central and South America,most species inhabit geographically iso...The small-eared shrew genus Cryptotis is the third largest in the family Soricidae and occurs in North,Central,and northern South America.In Mexico and Central and South America,most species inhabit geographically isolated moist,montane habitats at middle and high elevations in a typical sky-island pattern.The 49 recognized species have been partitioned into as many as six species groups based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies.The relationships among these species groups are poorly resolved,and their evolutionary histories,including migration patterns and locomotor adaptations,remain unclear.Herein,we provide a new phylogeny incorporating complete mitochondrial genomes(mitogenomes)and supermatrix approach.We compared different evolutionary scenarios using approximately unbiased(AU),Kishino-Hasegawa(KH),and Shimodaira-Hasegawa(SH)statistical tests.The phylogenetic hypothesis based on mitogenomes revealed novel relationships supporting a basal position for the Cryptotis parvusgroup in the genus,and a close relationship between C.gracilis and one clade of the C.thomasi-group.The former relationship is consistent with the least derived humerus morphology and northern distribution of the species.The latter relationship i mplies multiple migrations between Central and South America.The lack of fine resolution for the species group relationships may be due partly to the lack of taxon sampling.In contrast,multi-approach analyses suggest that the unresolved relationships may be a result of rapid diversification during the early stages of Cryptotis evolution.展开更多
A recently proposed taxonomic classification of extant ungulates sparked a series of publications that criticize the Phylogenetic Species Concept （PSC） claiming it to be a particularly poor species concept.These opi...A recently proposed taxonomic classification of extant ungulates sparked a series of publications that criticize the Phylogenetic Species Concept （PSC） claiming it to be a particularly poor species concept.These opinions reiteratively stated that （1） the two fundamental elements of the ＂PSC＂,i.e.,monophyly and diagnosability,do not offer objective criteria as to where the line between species should be drawn;and （2） that extirpation of populations can lead to artificial diagnosability and spurious recognitions of species.This sudden eruption of criticism against the PSC is misleading.Problems attributed to the PSC are common to most approaches and concepts that modern systematists employ to establish species boundaries.The controversial taxonomic propositions that sparked criticism against the PSC are indeed highly problematic,not because of the species concept upon which they are based,but because no evidence （whatsoever） has become public to support a substantial portion of the proposed classification.We herein discuss these topics using examples from mammals.Numerous areas of biological research rest upon taxonomic accuracy （including conservation biology and biomedical research）;hence,it is necessary to clarify what are （and what are not）the real sources of taxonomic inaccuracy.展开更多
基金supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program(STEP,2019QZKK0501)National Natural Science Foundation of China(32000304)+4 种基金Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects(202101AT070294)National Key Research and Development Program of China(2017YFC0505200)Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA20050202)Biodiversity Survey,Monitoring and Assessment(2019HB2096001006)Kadoorie Farm&Botanic Garden。
文摘The flying squirrels(Pteromyini,Rodentia)are the most diverse and widely distributed group of gliding mammals.Taxonomic boundaries and relationships within flying squirrels remain an area of active research in mammalogy.The discovery of new specimens of Pteromys(Hylopetes)leonardi Thomas,1921,previously considered a synonym of Hylopetes alboniger,in Yunnan Province,China allowed a morphological and genetic reassessment of the status of this taxon.Phylogenetic reconstruction was implemented using sequences of two mitochondrial(12S ribosomal RNA and 16S ribosomal RNA)and one nuclear(interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein)gene fragments.Morphological assessments involved examinations of features preserved on skins,skulls,and penises of museum specimens,supplemented with principal component analysis of craniometric data.Together these assessments revealed that this taxon should be recognized not only as a distinct species,but should also be placed within a new genus,described here as Priapomys gen.nov.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31970389 to K.H.,81770173 to X.P.)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2009M652952 to K.H.)Pearl River Talents Program Local Innovative and Research Teams(2017BT01S131 to X.P.)。
文摘The small-eared shrew genus Cryptotis is the third largest in the family Soricidae and occurs in North,Central,and northern South America.In Mexico and Central and South America,most species inhabit geographically isolated moist,montane habitats at middle and high elevations in a typical sky-island pattern.The 49 recognized species have been partitioned into as many as six species groups based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies.The relationships among these species groups are poorly resolved,and their evolutionary histories,including migration patterns and locomotor adaptations,remain unclear.Herein,we provide a new phylogeny incorporating complete mitochondrial genomes(mitogenomes)and supermatrix approach.We compared different evolutionary scenarios using approximately unbiased(AU),Kishino-Hasegawa(KH),and Shimodaira-Hasegawa(SH)statistical tests.The phylogenetic hypothesis based on mitogenomes revealed novel relationships supporting a basal position for the Cryptotis parvusgroup in the genus,and a close relationship between C.gracilis and one clade of the C.thomasi-group.The former relationship is consistent with the least derived humerus morphology and northern distribution of the species.The latter relationship i mplies multiple migrations between Central and South America.The lack of fine resolution for the species group relationships may be due partly to the lack of taxon sampling.In contrast,multi-approach analyses suggest that the unresolved relationships may be a result of rapid diversification during the early stages of Cryptotis evolution.
文摘A recently proposed taxonomic classification of extant ungulates sparked a series of publications that criticize the Phylogenetic Species Concept （PSC） claiming it to be a particularly poor species concept.These opinions reiteratively stated that （1） the two fundamental elements of the ＂PSC＂,i.e.,monophyly and diagnosability,do not offer objective criteria as to where the line between species should be drawn;and （2） that extirpation of populations can lead to artificial diagnosability and spurious recognitions of species.This sudden eruption of criticism against the PSC is misleading.Problems attributed to the PSC are common to most approaches and concepts that modern systematists employ to establish species boundaries.The controversial taxonomic propositions that sparked criticism against the PSC are indeed highly problematic,not because of the species concept upon which they are based,but because no evidence （whatsoever） has become public to support a substantial portion of the proposed classification.We herein discuss these topics using examples from mammals.Numerous areas of biological research rest upon taxonomic accuracy （including conservation biology and biomedical research）;hence,it is necessary to clarify what are （and what are not）the real sources of taxonomic inaccuracy.
