Abstract
Protein variation at 20 loci was analyzed by starch gel electrophoresis in population samples ofCtenomys flamarioni, C. torquatus, C. sp., andC. minutus collected in 25 localities of Southern Brazil. Results show that these four species exhibit higher levels of genetic variability (He=0.11–0.17) than those reported for most other fossorial rodents. Estimates of similarity coefficients indicate thatC. minutus andC. sp. (S=0.91) are the closest species, whileC. flamarioni (S=0.77) is the most distant from the others. The data presented here support the hypothesis of a relatively recent disjunction ofC. minutus fromC. sp. Within-species similarity indices are of the same order of magnitude as those found between species. The relatively high levels of heterozygosity observed are not in accordance with the view that subterranean taxa should be less variable than aboveground species due to the uniformity of their environment.
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This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP).
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Moreira, D.M., Franco, M.H.L.P., Freitas, T.R.O. et al. Biochemical polymorphisms and phenetic relationships in rodents of the genusCtenomys from Southern Brazil. Biochem Genet 29, 601–615 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426874
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02426874