PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSES OF SPINY POCKET MICE (HETEROMYIDAE: HETEROMYINAE) BASED ON ALLOZYMIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL DATA

Abstract

Abstract The subfamily Heteromyinae (spiny pocket mice) represents a well-defined monophyletic group within the rodent family Heteromyidae. Although 2 genera of spiny pocket mice, Heteromys and Liomys, are recognized in the subfamily, no phylogenetic analysis has demonstrated their reciprocal monophyly. A recent study using DNA-sequence data from the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b suggested that Liomys is paraphyletic but included few species of Heteromys. Here, we conduct phylogenetic analyses of the subfamily with dense taxonomic sampling using allozymic data from a previous study and external and cranial morphological data; our aim is to assess generic monophyly and elucidate phylogenetic structure within the genera, to the degree possible with these data. We also reidentify selected voucher specimens from the allozymic study. Parsimony-based analyses indicate 3 clades in the subfamily: (A) Liomys irroratus, L. pictus, and L. spectabilis; (B) L. adspersus and L. salvini; and (C) all examined species o...