title: A new subspecies of hutia (Plagiodontia, Capromyidae, Rodentia) from southern Hispaniola.
abstract: Continued uncertainty persists over the taxonomic status of many threatened Caribbean mammal populations. Recent molecular analysis has identified three genetically isolated allopatric hutia populations on Hispaniola that diverged during the Middle Pleistocene, with observed levels of sequence divergence interpreted as representing subspecies-level differentiation through comparison with genetic data for other capromyids. Subsequent analysis of existing museum specimens has demonstrated biogeographically congruent morphometric differentiation for two of these three populations, Plagiodontia aedium aedium (southwestern population) and P. aedium hylaeum (northern population). We report the first craniodental material for the southeastern Hispaniolan hutia population, and demonstrate that this population can also be differentiated using quantitative morphometric analysis from other Hispaniolan hutia subspecies. The holotype skull of P. aedium aedium, of unknown geographic provenance within Hispaniola, clusters morphometrically with the southwestern population. The southeastern Hispaniolan subspecies is described as Plagiodontia aedium bondi subsp. nov., and is assessed as Endangered under Criterion B1a,biii,v on the IUCN Red List.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK; Email: samuel.turvey@ioz.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Samuel T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Turvey
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hansford
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK Centre for Agri-Environment Research, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Rosalind J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kennerley
authors.affiliation: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Les Augrès Manor, Trinity, Jersey JE3 5BP, Channel Islands; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nuñez-Miño
authors.affiliation: Sociedad Ornitológica de la Hispaniola, Parque Zoologico Nacional, Avenida de la Vega Real, Arroyo Hondo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Jorge L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Brocca
authors.affiliation: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Les Augrès Manor, Trinity, Jersey JE3 5BP, Channel Islands Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Richard P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D010802:Phylogeny; D012377:Rodentia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D014900:West Indies