Knowledge Bank

Family Calomyscidae is a group of muroid rodents consisting of the single genus Calomyscus with only 8 recognized species of brush-tailed mice. The genus is informally separated into three species groups, and my focus was on the southern C. bailwardi species group consisting of C. bailwardi, C. hotsoni, and C. baluchi. I analyzed how species present in this species group are related and investigated potential species suggested by previous studies. Interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (Rbp3) sequences were obtained and a maximum parsimony network was constructed. The Rbp3 network supports C. sp. Khy of northern Pakistan and C. sp. B of the Zagros Mountains in Iran to be new species, which had been suggested by Cytb and genomic analyses. The network less robustly supports separation of C. hotsoni, which shares a haplotype with one C. baluchi sample. Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) indicates C. baluchi has a high affinity in its current distribution and has relatively good suitability throughout most regions where Calomyscus are generally known to inhabit. It also shows that C. baluchi has some suitability in the far north of Pakistan, but at lower elevations such as river valleys. The ENM model for C. sp. Khy indicates that this proposed species is highly specialized, with very little suitability outside where it was collected. The ENM model for C. hotsoni shows a general suitability throughout much of the projected distribution, although lower than C. baluchi.