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Molecular systematics of small-eared shrews (Soricomorpha, Mammalia) within Cryptotis mexicanus species group from Mesoamérica

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Abstract

Cryptotis mexicanus species group is the most diverse group of Cryptotis shrews in the Mesoamerican highlands (ca.13 species). In México, eight endemic species occurs and several taxa are endangered. The species’ limits and phylogenetic relationships of these taxa have been recently examined using morphology; nevertheless, little is known about phylogenetic relationships among Cryptotis species at the molecular level. Therefore, our research included a mitochondrial DNA marker as a source of additional information to corroborate taxonomic identification and produce a phylogenetic hypothesis of the C. mexicanus species group. We were particularly interested in the status of Cryptotis magnus, a species considered as relict on the basis of primitive characters. Based on the analyses of genetic sequences of a high number of Cryptotis species, outgroups, and phylogenetic analyses of parsimony and Bayesian inference, we confirmed that Cryptotis genus consists of different lineages that represent species groups. A detailed analysis suggests that C. magnus is a species that shares an evolutionary history with the C. mexicanus species group because it is imbedded within this group. In particular, our data strongly support that C. magnus and Cryptotis phillipsii are sister groups, a pair of species that inhabit allopatrically Southern México.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (PAPIIT grant IN215711 to FAC; Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas scholarship to LG) and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, México (scholarship CVU 215902 to LG) for financial support. S. Hernández-Betancourt for tissues samples of C. mayensis. L. Márquez and M. Martínez helped in the molecular laboratory. H. Ochoterena and D. Marshall provided valuable assistance with data. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. We also thank staff of Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP): J. C. Castro (Reserva de la Biosfera El Triunfo) and R. O. Maldonado (Parque Nacional Izta-Popo-Zoquiapan y anexas). People from San Juan Lachao and Tlaxiaco (Oaxaca), Acultzingo and San Andrés Tuxtla (Veracruz), Amecameca (México), and Jaltenango (Chiapas) provided exceptional help in the field to find shrews.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Colección Nacional de Mamíferos, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-153, 04510, Mexico, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Lázaro Guevara & Fernando A. Cervantes

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  1. Lázaro Guevara
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  2. Fernando A. Cervantes
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Correspondence to Lázaro Guevara.

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Communicated by: Allan McDevitt

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Guevara, L., Cervantes, F.A. Molecular systematics of small-eared shrews (Soricomorpha, Mammalia) within Cryptotis mexicanus species group from Mesoamérica. Acta Theriol 59, 233–242 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0165-6

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