Pleistocene impacts on the phylogeography of the desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus)
Jezkova T, Jaeger JR, Marshall ZL, Riddle BR. 2009. Pleistocene impacts on the phylogeography of the desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus). Journal of Mammalogy. 90(2):306-320
The authors investigated phylogeographic structure in Chaetodipus penicillatus by sequencing regions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages (clades) roughly centered in the Mojave and Sonoroan deserts. These clades broadly overlap the Lower Colorado River valley and adjacent desert regions across most of the range of C. p. penicillatus. Based on rough estimates for rates of sequence of evolution, divergence among the major clades appears to have occurred during the Pleistocene, but well before the latest glacial maximum. The authors developed ecological niche models (ENM) for the major lineages of C. penicillatus, and project these models onto reconstructions of climatic conditions during the latest glacial maximum (LGM 18,000-21,000 years ago). Models for the LGM indicate broad retention of potential habitat within the area of contact among the major clades. Furthermore, the ENM for the Mojave clade, in particular, indicates retention of suitable habitat during the LGM in small isolated patches within northern areas, consistent with the haplotype network that supports the perspective that some populations from the Mojave clade were isolated within northern refugia during the last glacial period.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Jezkova, Tereza; Jaeger, Jef; Marshall, Zane; Riddle, Brett
- Units
- DEVA , LAKE , ORPI
- Keywords
- Chaetodipus penicillatus (Desert Pocket Mouse), Ecological Niche Modeling, Heteromyidae (Heteromyid Rodents), Mammalia (Mammals), Mitochondrial DNA, Mojave Desert, Phylogeny, Presence (Biodiversity), Rodentia (Rodents), Sonoran Desert, Taxonomy