title: Molecular phylogeny of Myomys/Stenocephalemys complex and its relationships with related African genera.
abstract: Partial 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene sequences were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among Stenocephalemys albocaudata, S. griseicauda and Myomys albipes, three closely related Ethiopian endemic murines and a selection of related species (Myomys daltoni, Praomys delectorum, Mastomys natalensis, Hylomyscus kaimosae, and Colomys goslingi) from other African regions. The obtained phylogeny confirms the close relationship between M. albipes and the two Stenocephalemys species, but it also suggests that both the genera Myomys and Stenocephalemys are paraphyletic, as M. albipes is closer to Stenocephalemys than to M. daltoni and S. griseicauda is more closely related to M. albipes than to S. albocaudata. These data, if confirmed, would argue that M. albipes should be renamed S. albipes. In conclusion, our study suggests that morphological similarity is not always a reliable measure for close genetic relationship in murines. Morphological similarity among species that evolved under similar ecological conditions can be the result of convergent evolution rather than a consequence of recent common ancestry.
authors.affiliation: Departement Biologie, RUCA, Universitair Centrum Antwerpen, Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020, Antwerpen, Belgium
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fadda
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corti
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Verheyen