Abstract
The goal of this perspective is to propose a concerted effort for the study of the diversity of South American rodents to transition into the genomic era. We first review progress made in the last few decades in our understanding of the age, geographical origins, phylogenetic relationships and diversity of caviomorph and sigmodontine rodents, two major components of the South American fauna. Then, we examine their current representation in genomic/transcriptomic databases, and outline a research program to obtain a set of genomes and transcriptomes that represent major groups within each of these two lineages. We propose standards for voucher specimens and associated data and explore the role of museums and research collections in this endeavor. We envision a concerted international effort to guide and accelerate progress in the field.
Highlights
The field of phylogenetics is undergoing the transition to phylogenomics
Departamento de Ecología y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Iguá 4225, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay e-mail: lessa@fcien.edu.uy. The goal of this perspective is to propose a concerted effort for the study of the diversity of South American rodents to transition into the genomic era
As sequence technology progresses, associated costs reduce, computational capacity increases, and analytical protocols improve (e.g., Chan and Ragan, 2013; Dunn et al, 2013), the transition from traditional molecular systematics based on few loci to matrices of hundreds or thousands of genomic regions becomes feasible for most organisms
Summary
Rodent diversity in South America: transitioning into the genomics era Enrique P. Field Museum of Natural History, USA Guillermo Orti, The George Washington University, USA The goal of this perspective is to propose a concerted effort for the study of the diversity of South American rodents to transition into the genomic era. We first review progress made in the last few decades in our understanding of the age, geographical origins, phylogenetic relationships and diversity of caviomorph and sigmodontine rodents, two major components of the South American fauna. We examine their current representation in genomic/transcriptomic databases, and outline a research program to obtain a set of genomes and transcriptomes that represent major groups within each of these two lineages.
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