Journal of Mammalian Evolution 

About: Journal of Mammalian Evolution is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Biology & Monophyly. It has an ISSN identifier of 1064-7554. Over the lifetime, 747 publications have been published receiving 18012 citations.

Mammals of South America

Abstract: The vast terrain between Panama and Tierra del Fuego contains some of the world's richest mammalian fauna, but until now it has lacked a comprehensive systematic reference to the identification, distribution, and taxonomy of its mammals. The first such book of its kind and the inaugural volume in a three-part series, "Mammals of South America" both summarizes existing information and encourages further research of the mammals indigenous to the region. Containing identification keys and brief descriptions of each order, family, and genus, the first volume of "Mammals of South America" covers marsupials, shrews, armadillos, sloths, anteaters, and bats. Species accounts include taxonomic descriptions, synonymies, keys to identification, distributions with maps and a gazetteer of marginal localities, lists of recognized subspecies, brief summaries of natural history information, and discussions of issues related to taxonomic interpretations. Highly anticipated and much needed, this book will be a landmark contribution to mammalogy, zoology, tropical biology, and conservation biology.

The Great American Biotic Interchange: Dispersals, Tectonics, Climate, Sea Level and Holding Pens

Abstract: The biotic and geologic dynamics of the Great American Biotic Interchange are reviewed and revised Information on the Marine Isotope Stage chronology, sea level changes as well as Pliocene and Pleistocene vegetation changes in Central and northern South America add to a discussion of the role of climate in facilitating trans-isthmian exchanges Trans-isthmian land mammal exchanges during the Pleistocene glacial intervals appear to have been promoted by the development of diverse non-tropical ecologies

Phylogenetic Relationships and the Radiation of Sigmodontine Rodents in South America: Evidence from Cytochrome b

Abstract: Phylogenetic relationships among South American sigmodontine rodents were examined based on the complete sequence for the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene [1140 base pairs (bp)] for 66 species and between 759 and 1140 bp for an additional 19 species. Thirty-eight South American genera were represented, coming from eight of nine tribes. Outgroups included the North American murid rodents Peromyscus, Reithrodontomys, Scotinomys, and Neotoma, the Old World murine rodents Mus and Rattus, and the geomyoid genera Thomomys, Geomys, Dipodomys, and Perognathus as the most distant outgroup. The South American sigmodontines were supported as a monophyletic lineage. Within this radiation several clear-cut suprageneric groupings were identified. Many of the currently recognized tribal groupings of genera were found fairly consistently, although not always with high levels of bootstrap support. The various tribes could not be linked hierarchically with any confidence. In addition, several genera stand out as unique entities, without any apparent close relatives. The overall pattern suggests a rapid radiation of the sigmodontines in South America, followed by differentiation at the tribal and generic levels.

Are Guinea Pigs Rodents? The Importance of Adequate Models in Molecular Phylogenetics

Abstract: The monophyly of Rodentia has repeatedly been challenged based on several studies of molecular sequence data. Most recently, D'Erchia et al. (1996) analyzed complete mtDNA sequences of 16 mammals and concluded that rodents are not monophyletic. We have reanalyzed these data using maximum-likelihood methods. We use two methods to test for significance of differences among alternative topologies and show that (1) models that incorporate variation in evolutionary rates across sites fit the data dramatically better than models used in the original analyses, (2) the mtDNA data fail to refute rodent monophyly, and (3) the original interpretation of strong support for nonmonophyly results from systematic error associated with an oversimplified model of sequence evolution. These analyses illustrate the importance of incorporating recent theoretical advances into molecular phylogenetic analyses, especially when results of these analyses conflict with classical hypotheses of relationships.

Dispersal, Vicariance, and the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary Land Mammal Biogeography from South America to Australia

Abstract: A review of paleontological, phyletic, geophysical, and climatic evidence leads to a new scenario of land mammal dispersal among South America, Antarctica, and Australia in the Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary epochs. New fossil land vertebrate material has been recovered from all three continents in recent years. As regards Gondwana, the present evidence suggests that monotreme mammals and ratite birds are of Mesozoic origin, based on both geochronological and phyletic grounds. The occurrence of monotremes in the early Paleocene (ca. 62 Ma) faunas of Patagonia and of ratites in late Eocene (ca. 41-37 m.y.) faunas of Seymour Island (Antarctic Peninsula) probably is an artifact of a much older and widespread Gondwana distribution prior to the Late Cretaceous Epoch. Except for South American microbiotheres being australidelphians, marsupial faunas of South America and Australia still are fundamentally disjunct. New material from Seymour Island (Microbiotheriidae) indicates the presence there of a derived taxon that resides in a group that is the sister taxon of most Australian marsupials. There is no compelling evidence that dispersal between Antarctica and Australia was as recent as ca. 41 Ma or later. In fact, the derived marsupial and placental land mammal fauna of Seymour Island shows its greatest affinity with Patagonian forms of Casamayoran age (ca. 51–54 m.y.). This suggests an earlier dispersal of more plesiomorphic marsupials from Patagonia to Australia via Antarctica, and vicariant disjunction subsequently. This is consistent with geophysical evidence that the South Tasman Rise was submerged by 64 Ma and with geological evidence that a shallow water marine barrier was present from then onward. The scenario above is consistent with molecular evidence suggesting that australidelphian bandicoots, dasyurids, and diprotodontians were distinct and present in Australia at least as early as the 63-Ma-old australidelphian microbiotheres and the ancient but not basal australidelphian,Andinodelphys, in the Tiupampa Fauna of Bolivia. Land mammal dispersal to Australia typically has been considered to be at a low level of probability (e.g., by sweepstakes dispersal). This study suggests that the marsupial colonizers of Australia included already recognizable members of the Peramelina, Dasyuromorphia, and Diprotodontia, at least, and entered via a filter route rather than by a sweepstakes dispersal.