TY - JOUR
T1 - Unravelling the Taxonomy and Distribution of Two Problematic Small Mammal Genera in the Karoo Biome
AU - Main, Devon
AU - Tensen, Laura
AU - Gihring, Katharina
AU - Bronner, Gary
AU - Aboul-Hassan, Nadine
AU - Blanckenberg, Michelle
AU - Van Vuuren, Bettine Jansen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Zoological Society of Southern Africa.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - South Africa harbours remarkable biological diversity with three of the 34 recognised global biodiversity hotspots placed within its borders. One of these is the Succulent Karoo, which together with the Nama-Karoo, forms the Greater Karoo region. Notwithstanding a paucity of studies from this region, it would appear that, although mammal diversity is low, endemism is high. Here, as part of the Karoo BioGaps project, we use a molecular approach to assess small mammal diversity and endemism in the Karoo. We focus on rock rats (Micaelamys) and elephant shrews (Elephantulus and Macroscelides). Using a DNA-informed identification approach, we reveal two, well supported, monophyletic clades of Micaelamys; one that corresponds to M. granti. Our study is the first to publish sequence data for this species. Furthermore, when unverified records are excluded, the range of M. granti is far smaller (∼99 000 km2) than that given by the IUCN red list assessments (236 027 km2), which lends support to the species being a Karoo endemic. Our macrosceledid samples grouped into four well supported clades of the genera Elephantulus and Macroscelides. Very high intraspecific diversity was present within E. pilicaudus compared with other species in our study and this newly described species may harbour cryptic diversity. Our geographic analyses confirm that the range of this species, previously considered to be a Nama-Karoo endemic, extends beyond this region. This study adds more information to the nominal data currently available for the species, Elephantulus pilicaudus.
AB - South Africa harbours remarkable biological diversity with three of the 34 recognised global biodiversity hotspots placed within its borders. One of these is the Succulent Karoo, which together with the Nama-Karoo, forms the Greater Karoo region. Notwithstanding a paucity of studies from this region, it would appear that, although mammal diversity is low, endemism is high. Here, as part of the Karoo BioGaps project, we use a molecular approach to assess small mammal diversity and endemism in the Karoo. We focus on rock rats (Micaelamys) and elephant shrews (Elephantulus and Macroscelides). Using a DNA-informed identification approach, we reveal two, well supported, monophyletic clades of Micaelamys; one that corresponds to M. granti. Our study is the first to publish sequence data for this species. Furthermore, when unverified records are excluded, the range of M. granti is far smaller (∼99 000 km2) than that given by the IUCN red list assessments (236 027 km2), which lends support to the species being a Karoo endemic. Our macrosceledid samples grouped into four well supported clades of the genera Elephantulus and Macroscelides. Very high intraspecific diversity was present within E. pilicaudus compared with other species in our study and this newly described species may harbour cryptic diversity. Our geographic analyses confirm that the range of this species, previously considered to be a Nama-Karoo endemic, extends beyond this region. This study adds more information to the nominal data currently available for the species, Elephantulus pilicaudus.
KW - Nama Karoo
KW - South Africa
KW - elephant shrew
KW - phylogeography
KW - rock mouse
KW - spatial genetic structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074498944&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15627020.2019.1628661
DO - 10.1080/15627020.2019.1628661
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074498944
SN - 1562-7020
VL - 54
SP - 125
EP - 135
JO - African Zoology
JF - African Zoology
IS - 3
ER -
