Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The History of Ctenomys in the Fossil Record: A Young Radiation of an Ancient Family

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Tuco-Tucos

Abstract

We review the history of the South American hystricomorph rodent family Ctenomyidae as told by its fossil record and phylogenetic hypotheses. Differing interpretations of the evolutionary significance of extinct taxa have led to disparate accounts of the history of the family. Thus, assessing hypotheses that assign fossils to the different evolutionary stages of the clade is necessary to provide reliable age estimations of origin and extinction of lineages. We discuss the conceptually different definitions of the family and of genus Ctenomys and their evolutionary implications, and highlight the importance of identifying the earliest fossils of both the total clade Ctenomyidae and the crown clade Ctenomys for the calibration of molecular phylogenies. We consider that Ctenomyidae is an ancient family with a temporally extended stem group that includes even middle Pleistocene species of the only surviving genus, Ctenomys. On the contrary, the strikingly diverse crown clade Ctenomys would have reached its unusually high current taxonomic and ecological diversification, as well as its widespread distribution, in a surprisingly short lapse.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Literature Cited

  • Álvarez A, Arévalo RLM, Verzi DH (2017) Diversification patterns and size evolution in caviomorph rodents. Biol J Linnean Soc 121:907–922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez A, Ercoli MD, Verzi DH (2020) Integration and diversity of the caviomorph mandible (Hystricomorpha, Rodentia): accessing to the evolutionary history through fossils and ancestral shape reconstructions. Zool J Linnean Soc 188:276–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnal M, Vucetich MG (2015) Main radiation events in Pan-Octodontoidea (Rodentia, Caviomorpha). Zool J Linnean Soc 175:587–606

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benton MJ, Donoghue PCJ (2007) Paleontological evidence to date the tree of life. Mol Biol Evol 24:26–53

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bidau CJ (2015) Ctenomyidae. In: Patton JL, Pardiñas UFJ, D’Elía G (eds) Mammals of South America. 2. Rodents. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 818–877

    Google Scholar 

  • Bidegain JC, Soibelzon E, Prevosti FJ, Rico Y, Verzi DH, Tonni EP (2005) Magnetoestratigrafía y bioestratigrafía de las barrancas costeras de Necochea (provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina). Actas XV Congreso Geológico Argentino 4:239–246

    Google Scholar 

  • Boivin M, Marivaux L, Antoine PO (2019) L’apport du registre paléogène d’Amazonie sur la diversification initiale des Caviomorpha (Hystricognathi, Rodentia): implications phylogénétiques, macroévolutives et paléobiogéographiques. Geodiversitas 41:143–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borges LR, Maestri R, Kubiak BB, Galiano D, Fornel R, Freitas TRO (2017) The role of soil features in shaping the bite force and related skull and mandible morphology in the subterranean rodents of genus Ctenomys (Hystricognathi: Ctenomyidae). J Zool 301:108–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs DEG, Fortey RA (2005) Wonderful strife: systematics, stem groups, and the phylogenetic signal of the Cambrian radiation. Paleobiology 31:94–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Budd GE, Mann RP (2020) The dynamics of stem and crown groups. Sci Adv 6:eaaz1626

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Caraballo DA, Rossi MS (2018) Spatial and temporal divergence of the torquatus species group of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys. Contrib Zool 87:11–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho GAS, Salles OL (2004) Relationships among extant and fossil echimyids (Rodentia: Hystricognathi). Zool J Linnean Soc 142:445–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casinos A, Quintana CA, Viladiu C (1993) Allometry and adaptation in the long bones of a digging group of rodents (Ctenomyinae). Zool J Linnean Soc 107:107–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castillo AH, Cortinas MN, Lessa EP (2005) Rapid diversification of South American tuco-tucos (Ctenomys; Rodentia, Ctenomyidae): Contrasting mitochondrial and nuclear intron sequences. J Mammal 86:170–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Cela-Conde CJ, Ayala FJ (2003) Genera of the human lineage. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100:7684–7689

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cione AL, Tonni EP (1996) Reassessment of the Pliocene–Pleistocene continental time scale of southern South America. Correlation of the type Chapadmalal and with Bolivian sections. J South Am Earth Sci 9:221–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Queiroz K (2007) Toward an integrated system of clade names. Syst Biol 56:956–974

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Santi NA, Verzi DH, Olivares AI, Piñero P, Morgan CC, Medina ME, Rivero DE, Tonni EP (2020) A new peculiar species of the subterranean rodent Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae) from the Holocene of central Argentina. J South Am Earth Sci 100:102499

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández ME, Vassallo AI, Zárate M (2000) Functional morphology and palaeobiology of the Pliocene rodent Actenomys (Caviomorpha: Octodontidae): the evolution to a subterranean mode of life. Biol J Linnean Soc 71:71–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freitas TRO (2016) Family Ctenomyidae. In: Wilson DE, Lacher TE, Mittermeier RA (eds) The Handbook of mammals of the world. Lagomorphs and rodents I. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, pp 498–534

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennig W (1965) Phylogenetic systematics. Annu Rev Entomol 10:97–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lacey EA, Wieczorek JR (2003) Ecology of sociality in rodents: a ctenomyid perspective. J Mammal 84:1198–1211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lessa EP, Cook JA (1998) The molecular phylogenetics of tuco-tucos (genus Ctenomys, Rodentia: Octodontidae) suggests an early burst of speciation. Mol Phylogenetics Evol 9:88–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Lessa EP, Vassallo AI, Verzi DH, Mora M (2008) Evolution of morphological adaptations for digging in living and extinct ctenomyid and octodontid rodents (Caviomorpha). Biol J Linnean Soc 95:267–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan CC, Verzi DH (2006) Morphological diversity of the humerus of the south American subterranean rodent Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae). J Mammal 87:1252–1260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan CC, Verzi DH (2011) Carpal- metacarpal specializations for burrowing in south American octodontoid rodents. J Anat 219:167–175

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan CC, Verzi DH, Olivares AI, Vieytes EC (2017) Craniodental and forelimb specializations for digging in the south American subterranean rodent Ctenomys (Hystricomorpha, Ctenomyidae). Mamm Biol 87:118–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parada A, D’Elía G, Bidau CJ, Lessa EP (2011) Species groups and the evolutionary diversification of tuco-tucos, genus Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae). J Mammal 92:671–682

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pascual R (1967) Los roedores Octodontoidea (Caviomorpha) de la Formación Arroyo Chasicó (Plioceno inferior) de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Revista del Museo de La Plata Paleontología 5:259–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson B, Pascual R (1968) New echimyid rodents from the Oligocene of Patagonia, and a synopsis of the family. Bull Mus Comp Zool Breviora 301:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson B, Wood AE (1982) Rodents from the Deseadan Oligocene of Bolivia and the relationships of the Caviomorpha. Bull Mus Comp Zool 149:371–543

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez ME, Arnal M, Boivin M, Vucetich MG, Candela A, Busker F, Quispe BM (2019) New caviomorph rodents from the late Oligocene of Salla, Bolivia: taxonomic, chronological, and biogeographic implications for the Deseadan faunas of South America. J Syst Palaeontol (10):821–847

    Google Scholar 

  • Prothero DR (2014) Species longevity in north American fossil mammals. Integr Zool 9:383–393

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quintana CA (1994) Sistemática y anatomía funcional del roedor Ctenomyinae Praectenomys (Caviomorpha: Octodontidae) del Plioceno de Bolivia. Revista Técnica de Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos 15:175–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Reig OA (1970) Ecological notes on the fossorial octodont rodent Spalacopus cyanus (Molina). J Mammal 51:592–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reig OA (1989) Karyotypic repatterning as one triggering factor in cases of explosive speciation. In: Fontdevila A (ed) Evolutionary biology of transient unstable populations. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 246–289

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Reig OA, Quintana CA (1992) Fossil ctenomyine rodents of the genus Eucelophorus (Caviomorpha: Octodontidae) from the Pliocene and early Pleistocene of Argentina. Ameghiniana 29:363–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Reig OA, Busch C, Ortells MO, Contreras JR (1990) An overview of evolution, systematics, population biology, cytogenetics, molecular biology and speciation in Ctenomys. In: Nevo E, Reig OA (eds) Evolution of Subterranean Mammals at the Organismal and Molecular Levels. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp 71–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Ronquist F, Lartillot N, Phillips MJ (2016) Closing the gap between rocks and clocks using total evidence dating. Philos Trans R Soc B 371:20150136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sansom RS, Wills MA, Williams T (2017) Dental data perform relatively poorly in reconstructing mammal phylogenies: morphological partitions evaluated with molecular benchmarks. Syst Biol 66:813–822

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shockey BJ, Salas-Gismondi R, Gans P, Jeong A, Flynn JJ (2009) Paleontology and geochronology of the Deseadan (late Oligocene) of Moquegua, Perú. Am Mus Novit 3668:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson GG (1945) The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 85:1–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Soibelzon E, Prevosti F, Bidegain J, Rico Y, Verzi DH, Tonni EP (2009) Correlation of late Cenozoic sequences of southeastern Buenos Aires province: biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy. Quat Int 210:51–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steiper ME, Young NM (2008) Timing primate evolution: lessons from the discordance between molecular and paleontological estimates. Evol Anthropol 17:179–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Upham NS, Patterson BD (2015) Phylogeny and evolution of caviomorph rodents: a complete time tree for living genera. In Vassallo AI, Antenucci D (eds.) Biology of caviomorph rodents: diversity and evolution. SAREM Series A, Mastozoological Research. Buenos Aires, pp 63–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Vassallo AI, Mora MS (2007) Interspecific scaling and ontogenetic growth patterns of the skull in living and fossil ctenomyid and octodontid rodents (Caviomorpha: Octodontoidea). In Kelt DA, Lessa EP, Salazar-Bravo J, Patton JL (eds) The quintessential naturalist: honoring the life and legacy of Oliver P. Pearson. University of California Publications in Zoology. California, pp 945–968

    Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH (1999) The dental evidence on the differentiation of the ctenomyine rodents (Caviomorpha, Octodontidae, Ctenomyinae). Acta Theriol 44:263–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH (2002) Patrones de evolución morfológica en Ctenomyinae (Rodentia, Octodontidae). Mastozool Neotrop 9:309–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH (2008) Phylogeny and adaptive diversity of rodents of the family Ctenomyidae (Caviomorpha): delimiting lineages and genera in the fossil record. J Zool (Lond) 274:386–394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH, Vieytes EC, Montalvo CI (2004a) Dental evolution in Xenodontomys and first notice on secondary acquisition of radial enamel in rodents (Rodentia, Caviomorpha, Octodontidae). Geobios 37:795–806

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH, Deschamps CM, Tonni EP (2004b) Biostratigraphic and palaeoclimatic meaning of the Middle Pleistocene South American rodent Ctenomys kraglievichi (Caviomorpha, Octodontidae). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 212:315–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH, Olivares AI, Morgan CC (2010) The oldest South American tuco-tuco (Pliocene, Northwestern Argentina) and the boundaries of genus Ctenomys (Rodentia, Ctenomyidae). Mamm Biol 75:243–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH, Olivares AI, Morgan CC (2014) Phylogeny and evolutionary patterns of South American octodontoid rodents. Acta Palaeontol Pol 59:757–769

    Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH, Morgan CC, Olivares AI (2015) The history of South American octodontoid rodents and its contribution to evolutionary generalisations. In: Cox P, Hautier L (eds) Evolution of the Rodents, advances in phylogeny, functional morphology, and development. Cambridge studies in morphology and molecules: new paradigms in evolutionary biology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 139–163

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Verzi DH, Olivares AI, Morgan CC, Álvarez A (2016) Contrasting phylogenetic and diversity patterns in octodontoid rodents and a new definition of the family Abrocomidae. J Mamm Evol 23:93–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vieytes EC, Morgan CC, Verzi DH (2007) Adaptive diversity of incisor enamel microstructure in south American burrowing rodents (family Ctenomyidae, Caviomorpha). J Anat 211:296–302

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vucetich MG, Verzi DH (1991) Un nuevo Echimyidae (Rodentia, Hystricognathi) de la Edad Colhuehuapense de Patagonia y consideraciones sobre la sistemática de la familia. Ameghiniana 28:67–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Vucetich MG, Verzi DH, Hartenberger JL (1999) Review and analysis of the radiation of the South American Hystricognathi (Mammalia, Rodentia). Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Sciences II A329:763–769

    Google Scholar 

  • Vucetich MG, Arnal M, Deschamps CM, Pérez ME, Vieytes CE (2015) A brief history of caviomorph rodents as told by the fossil record. In Vassallo AI, Antenucci D (eds) Biology of caviomorph rodents: diversity and evolution. SAREM Series A, Mastozoological Research, Buenos Aires, pp. 11–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood AE (1955) A revised classification of the rodents. J Mammal 36:165–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood B, Collard M (1999) The human genus. Science 284:65–71

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wood AE, Patterson B (1959) Rodents of the Deseadan Oligocene of Patagonia and the beginnings of South American rodent evolution. Bull Mus Comp Zool 120:279–428

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are especially grateful to the editors, T Freitas, G Lopes Gonçalves, and R Maestri, for the invitation to contribute to this volume. For access to materials under their care, we thank P Teta, A Martinelli, M Ezcurra, L Chornogubsky (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Argentina), P Ortiz, M Díaz (Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo, Argentina), S Bogan (Fundación de Historia Natural Azara, Argentina), M Pérez, E Ruigómez (Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio), M Rosi (IADIZA, CONICET, Argentina), J Oliveira (Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil), D Romero, M Taglioretti, F Scaglia, †A Dondas (Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Mar del Plata, Argentina), P Straccia (Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Santa Clara, Argentina), J Vargas Mattos (Colección Boliviana de Fauna, Bolivia), E Tonni, and M Reguero (Museo de La Plata, Argentina). This research was supported by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica PICT 2016-2881.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sección Mastozoología, CONICET, Museo de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Diego H. Verzi, Nahuel A. De Santi, A. Itatí Olivares & Cecilia C. Morgan

  2. Instituto de Ecoregiones Andinas, CONICET, Jujuy, Argentina

    Alicia Álvarez

Authors
  1. Diego H. Verzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nahuel A. De Santi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Itatí Olivares
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Cecilia C. Morgan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alicia Álvarez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diego H. Verzi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Thales Renato Ochotorena de Freitas

  2. Department of Genetics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Gislene Lopes Gonçalves

  3. Department of Ecology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Renan Maestri

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Verzi, D.H., De Santi, N.A., Olivares, A.I., Morgan, C.C., Álvarez, A. (2021). The History of Ctenomys in the Fossil Record: A Young Radiation of an Ancient Family. In: Freitas, T.R.O.d., Gonçalves, G.L., Maestri, R. (eds) Tuco-Tucos. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61679-3_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation