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15 April 2020 A new mouse of the Peromyscus maniculatus species complex (Cricetidae) from the highlands of central Mexico
M. Ángel Léon-Tapia, Jesús A. Fernández, Yessica Rico, F. A. Cervantes, Alejandro Espinosa de los Monteros
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Abstract

The Peromyscus maniculatus species complex is one of the most widespread group of small mammals in North America. However, the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships among its constituent taxa remain unclear. As part of a revision of Peromyscus specimens from the highlands of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in central Mexico, we identified five individuals collected in 1968 that differed externally from other Peromyscus specimens, although morphologically similar to P. labecula and P. melanotis, both latter in the P. maniculatus species complex. Based on cranial measurements and mitochondrial DNA sequences, we aimed to more accurately determine the phylogenetic relationships and the taxonomic status of these individuals. Molecular phylogenetic analyses showed that the specimens formed a monophyletic clade sister to the P. maniculatus species complex. Pairwise genetic distances between those specimens and other species within the P. maniculatus species complex were greater than 7.91%. In addition, morphological analyses clearly distinguished the test specimens from P. melanotis and P. labecula. Based on the results of our molecular and morphological analyses, we conclude that these specimens represent an undescribed species of the P. maniculatus species complex, which we describe herein.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists, www.mammalogy.org.
M. Ángel Léon-Tapia, Jesús A. Fernández, Yessica Rico, F. A. Cervantes, and Alejandro Espinosa de los Monteros "A new mouse of the Peromyscus maniculatus species complex (Cricetidae) from the highlands of central Mexico," Journal of Mammalogy 101(4), 1117-1132, (15 April 2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa027
Received: 4 June 2019; Accepted: 5 March 2020; Published: 15 April 2020
KEYWORDS
CRANIAL MORPHOLOGY
cytochrome b
discriminant analysis
molecular systematics
phylogenetics
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