How to translate text using browser tools
22 December 2014 Taxonomy of rock-wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). IV. Multifaceted study of the brachyotis group identifies additional taxa
Sally Potter, Robert L. Close, David A. Taggart, Steven J. B. Cooper, Mark D. B. Eldridge
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Defining taxonomic units is an important component of understanding how biodiversity has formed, and in guiding efforts to sustain it. Understanding patterns of biodiversity across the monsoonal tropics of northern Australia is limited, with molecular technology revealing deep phylogenetic structure and complex evolutionary histories. The brachyotis group of rock-wallabies (Petrogale spp.), which currently consists of three species (Petrogale brachyotis, P. burbidgei and P. concinna) distributed across north-western Australia, provides an example where current taxonomy does not reflect the true diversity or phylogenetic relationships within the group. We have used an integrative approach, combining morphological data, together with DNA sequences (∼1000 bp mitochondrial DNA; ∼3000 bp nuclear DNA) to resolve relationships within P. brachyotis. Phylogenetic and morphological analyses indicated that P. brachyotis (sensu lato) represents at least two separate species: P. brachyotis (sensu stricto) from the Kimberley and western Northern Territory, and P. wilkinsi from the northern and eastern Northern Territory. Petrogale brachyotis (sensu stricto) can be separated on genetic and morphological evidence into two subspecies: P. b. brachyotis and P. b. victoriae (subsp. nov.). Distinct genetic lineages have also been identified within both P. brachyotis and P. wilkinsi, as well as within P. burbidgei and P. concinna.

© CSIRO 2014
Sally Potter, Robert L. Close, David A. Taggart, Steven J. B. Cooper, and Mark D. B. Eldridge "Taxonomy of rock-wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). IV. Multifaceted study of the brachyotis group identifies additional taxa," Australian Journal of Zoology 62(5), 401-414, (22 December 2014). https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO13095
Received: 1 November 2013; Accepted: 1 November 2014; Published: 22 December 2014
KEYWORDS
marsupial
mitochondrial DNA
morphology
northern Australia
nuclear
phylogenetics
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top