Budget Amount *help |
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
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Research Abstract |
We sequenced mitochondrial (cytochrome b,12S rRNA) and nuclear (IRBP,RAG1) genes for 17 species of the Old World murine genus Mus, drawn primarily from Eurasia. Phylogenetic analysis of the newly and previously available sequences support recognition of four subgenera within Mus (Mus,Coelomys,Nannomys,Pyromys), with an unresolved basal polytomy. Our data further indicate that the subgenus Mus contains three distinct 'species groups' : 1) a Mus booduga Species Group, also including M.terncolor and M.fragilicauda (probably also M.famulus) ; 2) a Mus cervicolor Species Group, also including M.caroli and M.cookii ; and 3) a Mus musculus Species Group, also including M.macedonicus, M.spicilegus and M.spretus. Species diversity in Eurasian Mus is probably explicable in terms of several phases of range expansion and vicariance, and by a propensity within the group to undergo biotope transitions. IRBP and RAG1 molecular clocks for Mus date the origin of subgenera to around 5-6 mya and the origin of Species Groups within subgenus Mus to around 2-3 mya. The temporal pattern of evolution among Eurasian Mus is similar to that within the Eurasian temperate genus Apodemus.
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