Abstract

Heteromys pictus-spectabilis is a species complex within the subfamily Heteromyinae (Family: Heteromyidae) that is distributed along the western and southern Mexican coast and surrounding environments. Currently, the species complex is accepted as being 2 separate species (H. pictus and H. spectabilis), but this also renders H. pictus paraphyletic. Therefore, the species complex requires re-evaluation in order to resolve the paraphyly. Mitochondrial DNA sequences from a previously existing ~720 specimen database compiled by Victoria Vance were used in conjunction with new nuclear DNA sequences sequenced for the purpose of this study to generate multiple phylogenetic trees via the software programs RAxML, BEAST, and MrBayes to evaluate how different haplotype networks were related to each other. Using these molecular datasets in consideration with Kimura two-parameter values, time calibrations via BEAST, and the relative geographic locations of the haplotype networks, the results strongly indicate this species complex is composed of multiple cryptic species and potentially multiple genera. This was a preliminary exploration into this species complex however, and future research will be required to verify these findings.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Life Sciences; Biology

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2018-08-01

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12563

Keywords

Heteromys, phylogeny, Bayesian, maximum likelihood, Mexico, species delimitation, cryptic species

Language

english

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