Americas Program Dissertation Enhancement Research: Historical Biogeography and Systematic Relationships of South American Murid Rodents

9417252 Yates美洲项目奖将支持Jorge Salazar-Bravo的论文研究，他是玻利维亚博士生，在新墨西哥大学Terry L. Yates博士的指导下工作。这项关于南美洲Murid啮齿动物的历史生物地理学和系统关系的研究将在厄瓜多尔进行。这名研究人员将用sigmodontine啮齿动物（一种在南美洲广泛分布的老鼠属）来测试目前南美鼠进化的两种模型。这些假设以区域梯形图的形式进行了具体的预测，可以使用分支方法进行测试，但这两种模型都没有得到充分的测试。本项目将根据线粒体DNA序列数据的分支分析和与其他近缘属的外群比较，估计sigmodontine啮齿动物两个远亲属的系统发育关系。如果两种假设都不符合系统发育关系，则将测试其他假设。这个项目将有利于宏观生态学和生物地理学领域，因为它将阐明决定地方和大陆范围内物种丰富程度的历史因素，这反过来将有助于确定和加强保护目的的潜在利益区域。这些结果还可以与鸟类生物学家和其他研究人员的结果结合使用，以加强和/或修正关于南美洲开阔植被进化的假设。* * *

9417252 Yates This Americas Program award will support the dissertation research of Jorge Salazar-Bravo, a Bolivian doctoral student working under the direction of Dr. Terry L. Yates at the University of New Mexico. The research, on the historical biogeography and systematic relationships of South American Murid rodents, will take place in Ecuador. The researcher will test two current models of murid evolution in South America using sigmodontine rodents, a genus of mice widely distributed on the continent. The hypotheses have specific predictions in the form of area cladograms that can be tested using a cladistic approach, but neither of the two models have been adequately tested. This project will estimate the phylogenetic relationships of two distantly related genera of the sigmodontine rodents, based on the cladistic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data and outgroup comparisons with other closely related genera. If neither of the hypotheses fit the phylogenetic relationships, alternative hypotheses will be tested. This project will benefit the areas of macroecology and biogeography because it will shed light on historical factors that determine species richness at the local and continental scale, which, in turn, will help in defining and strengthening areas of potential interest for conservation purposes. The results may also be used in combination with those of avian biologists and others to strengthen and/or revise hypotheses of the evolution of open vegetation in South America. ***