Phylogenetics and Biogeography of Amazonian Spiny Rats, Genus Proechimys (Mammalia: Echimyidae)

小行星9317685 该提案要求提供资金，以研究南美洲热带森林啮齿动物Proechimys属的地理分布模式和物种形成过程的一系列相互关联的问题。 这是一个大型的分类组合，由至少9个种组和大约25个种组成，但其中种的边界是模糊的，不存在任何假设的系谱关系。 作为新热带区森林陆地小型哺乳动物群落中最具本地丰富性和广泛分布的组成部分之一，这些大鼠提供了很大的希望作为模式生物来研究亚马逊盆地的地理历史，以及确定该地区的分歧过程。 PI建议补充他正在进行的分析，这些分析强调了颅齿形态学，核型学和蛋白质分子与线粒体DNA序列数据，用于确定物种边界和物种群的系统发育重建。 我们将通过聚合酶链反应方法，从细胞色素b编码基因中酶促扩增DNA。 我们也将探讨核序列的效用，研究珠蛋白和醛缩酶基因家族的变异。 重点将放在物种边界的确定，并在检查河流的假设，在亚马逊流域内的多样化的力量。

9317685 Patton This proposal requests funding to examine a set of interrelated questions regarding the biogeographic patterns and speciation processes in the South American tropical forest rodent genus Proechimys. This is a large taxonomic assemblage, composed of at least nine species groups and approximately 25 species, but in which species boundaries are fuzzy and for which no hypothesis of genealogical relationships exists. As one of the most locally abundant and broadly distributed components of the terrestrial small mammal community of the Neotropical forests, these rats offer great promise as model organisms to examine the biogeographic history of the Amazon Basin, as well as to determine processes of divergence in that region. The PI proposes to complement his ongoing analyses that have emphasized craniodental morphology, karyology, and protein molecules with mitochondrial DNA sequence data for determination of species boundaries and phylogenetic reconstruction of the species groups. We will employ enzymatic amplification of DNA from the Cytochrome-b coding gene, via the polymerase chain reaction methodology. We will also explore the utility of nuclear sequences, examining variation in the globin and aldolase gene families. Emphasis will be placed on the determination of species boundaries, and on the examination of the riverine hypothesis as a force in diversification within the Amazon Basin.