Intraspecific variation detected in West African Soft-furred Mice, Praomys rostratus, through molecular phylogenetics (Cytb) and morphology
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Date
2019-12
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
The Upper Guinea Forest ranges across six countries in West Africa and has unique biodiversity including many endemic species. Among these endemic species is the West African Soft-furred Mouse, Praomys rostratus. Praomys rostratus is nearly indistinguishable morphologically from its sister species, P. tullbergi, and is often misidentified in the field. I used phylogenetic and morphological analyses to test for intraspecific variation within P. rostratus across three regions: central Sierra Leone, southeastern Guinea, and western Côte d’Ivoire. Cytochrome b sequences (n=117) were analyzed using a coalescent Bayesian Skyline model to construct a phylogenetic tree depicting relative divergence times. With the same samples, I evaluated Kimura 2-parameter distances to test for species-level distances. I also used five field measurements to test for sexual dimorphism and morphological variation in 120 samples. The six measurements include weight (g), total body length (mm), body length (mm), tail length (mm), hind tarsus length (mm), and ear length (mm). A MANOVA and ANOVA were used to analyze these data. My genetic results showed that P. rostratus splits into two separate clades based on location: Sierra Leone and Guinea/Côte d’Ivoire. My morphological results showed that Côte d’Ivoire samples are significantly larger than samples from Sierra Leone and Guinea. From these results I conclude that there is intraspecific variation present in the phylogeny and morphology of P. rostratus that correlates with its geographical distribution. However, the results from the two approaches used do not agree.