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Higher-level systematics of rodents (Mammalia, Rodentia): Evidence from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene

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Abstract

Phylogenetic relationships among major rodent superfamilies traditionally have been difficult to establish because of the apparent high level of convergence and parallelism seen among morphological characters and/or rapid differentiation of rodent groups in the Paleocene/Eocene. Nucleotide sequence data from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene were used to clarify phylogenetic relationships among the major groups of rodents as defined by Brandt (1855) and Tullberg (1899). Based on the approximately 800 bp analyzed for the 12S rRNA gene in 59 mammalian species, including 25 of the 32 extant rodent families, the major rodent groups that could be defined as monophyletic clades were the Hystricognathi, the Muroidea, and the Geomyoidea. In addition, support for superfamilial sister-group relationships was found for Aplodontoidea with Sciuroidea and Dipodoidea with Muroidea.

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  1. Michael A. Nedbal

    Present address: Geology Department, Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive, 60605, Chicago, Illinois

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  1. Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 210 Nagle Hall, 77843, College Station, Texas

    Michael A. Nedbal & Rodney L. Honeycutt

  2. Division of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 5800 Baum Boulevard, 15206, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    Duane A. Schilitter

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Nedbal, M.A., Honeycutt, R.L. & Schilitter, D.A. Higher-level systematics of rodents (Mammalia, Rodentia): Evidence from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. J Mammal Evol 3, 201–237 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01458181

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