[Mammalogy • 2017] Phylogeny and Systematic Revision of the Genus Typhlomys (Rodentia, Platacanthomyidae), with Description of A New Species; Typhlomys nanus

Typhlomys nanus

Cheng, He, Chen, Zhang, Wan,  Li, Zhang & Jiang. 2017

kiz.CAS.cn DOI:  10.1093/jmammal/gyx016  

Abstract

The “blind mouse” genus, Typhlomys, is an ancient taxon in the family Platacanthomyidae, comprising 2 living species and 4 living subspecies. We sequenced 3 mitochondrial (CytB, COI, and ND2) and 2 nuclear (GHR and IRBP) gene segments to estimate the phylogenetic relationships of the species and subspecies, and to delimit species boundaries. We also evaluated patterns of morphological and morphometric variation of the skull. The molecular results suggest at least 5 species are present, corresponding to the 2 recognized species (Typhlomys cinereus and T. chapensis), 1 species previously considered a subspecies (T. cinereus daloushanensis), 1 new species (Typhlomys nanus sp. nov.), and 1 putative new species, for which we lack adequate morphological specimens. We also determined that the subspecies Typhlomys cinereus jingdongensis is conspecific with T. chapensis. Diversification of the genus occurred in the late Miocene and Pliocene. The new species, T. nanus, is distributed in eastern and northeastern Yunnan at middle to high elevations (2,000 m to > 3,000 m above sea level). Interestingly, we detected a frameshift mutation within the IRBP gene, which is the 1st molecular evidence for the degradation of vision.

Keywords: frameshift mutation, interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP), Platacanthomyidae, species delimitation, Typhlomys

Fig. 2.— Dorsal, ventral, and lateral external views of the skin of the holotype of Typhlomys nanus (KIZ 033585). 

Feng Cheng, Kai He, Zhong-Zheng Chen, Bin Zhang, Tao Wan, Jia-Tang Li, Bao-Wei Zhang and Xue-Long Jiang. 2017. Phylogeny and Systematic Revision of the Genus Typhlomys (Rodentia, Platacanthomyidae), with Description of A New Species.  Journal of Mammalogy.  98(3); 731-743. DOI:  10.1093/jmammal/gyx016 

A New Species of Blind Mouse Was Found in Yunnan, China

http://english.kiz.cas.cn/Research/rp/201705/t20170502_176552.html

[Mammalogy • 2014] An enigmatic Pygmy Dormouse: Molecular and Morphological Evidence for the Species Taxonomic Status of Typhlomys chapensis (Rodentia: Platacanthomyidae)

  Typhlomys chapensis (Osgood 1932)

Vietnamese Pygmy Dormouse [or Soft-furred Tree Mouse] 

Figure 4. Typhlomys cinereus. Adult female from Sa Pa, Lao Cai Province, northern Vietnam.

Photographed by A. V. Abramov | doi: 10.3897/zookeys.164.1785

ABSTRACT 

Background: The taxonomic position of enigmatic pygmy dormouse Typhlomys (Rodentia: Platacanthomyidae) from Vietnam is reconsidered based on both morphology and sequence data. 

Results: The analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear genes has shown that the pygmy dormouse from Lao Cai Province of northern Vietnam belongs to a distinct phylogenetic lineage of Typhlomys. The DNA analysis has demonstrated a strong genetic difference (0.245 to 0.252 for the cytochrome oxidase gene (COI), 0.079 to 0.082 for interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein gene (IRBP), and 0.028 for the growth hormone receptor gene (GHR) between this lineage and the sample from South China. Multivariate analysis of cranial and dental data, as well as of some external characters, has also separated the Vietnamese population from the pygmy dormouse from Fujian in southern China, the type locality of Typhlomys cinereus (Bull Soc Philomath Paris 12:8–10, 1877). 

Conclusions: Both genetic and morphological data confirm that there is a second species, Typhlomys chapensis (Field Mus Nat Hist Zool Ser 18:193–339, 1932), in the heretofore monotypic genus Typhlomys.

 Alexei V Abramov, Alexander E Balakirev and Viatcheslav V Rozhnov. 2014. An enigmatic Pygmy Dormouse: Molecular and Morphological Evidence for the Species Taxonomic Status of Typhlomys chapensis (Rodentia: Platacanthomyidae). Zoological Studies. 53:34. DOI: 10.1186/s40555-014-0034-2

researchgate.net/publication/264275000_An_enigmatic_pygmy_dormouse_molecular_and_morphological_evidence_for_the_species_taxonomic_status_of Typhlomys chapensis_%28Rodentia_Platacanthomyidae%29

Alexei V. Abramov, Vladimir M. Aniskin and Viatcheslav V. Rozhnov. 2012. Karyotypes of two rare rodents, Hapalomys delacouri and Typhlomys cinereus (Mammalia, Rodentia), from Vietnam. ZooKeys. 164: 41–49, DOI:  10.3897/zookeys.164.1785

http://www.cokesmithphototravel.com/yunnan-expedition.html