title: Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of Oriental voles: genus Eothenomys (Muridae, Mammalia).
abstract: Oriental voles of the genus Eothenomys are predominantly distributed along the Southeastern shoulder of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Based on phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1143 bp) obtained from 23 specimens (eight species) of Oriental voles collected from this area, together with nucleotide sequences from six specimens (two species) of Japanese red-backed voles (Eothenomys andersoni and Eothenomys smithii) and five species of the closely related genus Clethrionomys, we revised the systematic status of Eothenomys. We also tested if vicariance could explain the observed high species diversity in this area by correlating estimated divergence times to species distribution patterns and corresponding paleo-geographic events. Our results suggest that: (1) the eight species of Oriental voles form a monophyletic group with two distinct clades, and that these two clades should be considered as valid subgenera--Eothenomys and Anteliomys; (2) Eothenomys eleusis and Eothenomys miletus are not independent species; (3) Japanese red-backed voles are more closely related to the genus Clethrionomys than to continental Asian Eothenomys taxa; and (4) the genus Clethrionomys, as presently defined, is paraphyletic. In addition, the process of speciation of Oriental voles appears to be related to the Trans-Himalayan formation via three recent uplift events of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau within the last 3.6 million years, as well as to the effects of the mid-Quaternary ice age.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Domestic Animals, and Cellular and Molecular Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Dongming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yingxiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei-Jen
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kevin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D001208:Asia; D045303:Cytochromes b / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D045303:Cytochromes b