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Variation in cytochrome-b haplotypes suggests a new species of Zygodontomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae) endemic to Isla Coiba, Panama

2010; Pensoft Publishers; Volume: 27; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s1984-46702010000400014

1984-4689

Publio González, Yadéeh E. Sawyer, Mario Ávila, Aníbal G. Armién, Blas Armién, Joseph A. Cook,

Mollusks and Parasites Studies

The identity of two insular populations of rodents of the nominal species, Zygodontomys brevicauda (Allen & Chapman, 1893), from the Veragua Archipelago was examined. The mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene was sequenced from specimens collected on Isla Coiba (n = 10), Isla Cébaco (n = 3) and on the nearby Peninsula Azuero (n = 3) in Panama and compared with sequences of Z. brevicauda and a number of other related species from GenBank. For Panama, phylogenetic analyses identified two clades within Zygodontomys Allen, 1897; one representing Isla Coiba and another clade composed of rats from Isla Cébaco and from the mainland on the Peninsula Azuero, as well as a GenBank sequence of Z. brevicauda from Venezuela. We suggest that the population from Isla Coiba may represent a previously undescribed species of sigmodontine rodent that is endemic to this Pacific Island.