title: Molecular and morphologic data reveal multiple species inPeromyscus pectoralis.
abstract: DNA sequence and morphometric data were used to re-evaluate the taxonomy and systematics ofPeromyscus pectoralis. Phylogenetic analyses (maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference) of DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome-bgene in 44 samples ofP. pectoralisindicated 2 well-supported monophyletic clades. The 1st clade contained specimens from Texas historically assigned toP. p. laceianus; the 2nd was comprised of specimens previously referable toP. p. collinus,P. p. laceianus, andP. p. pectoralisobtained from northern and eastern Mexico. Levels of genetic variation (~7%) between these 2 clades indicated that the genetic divergence typically exceeded that reported for other species ofPeromyscus. Samples ofP. p. laceianusnorth and south of the Río Grande were not monophyletic. In addition, samples representingP. p. collinusandP. p. pectoralisformed 2 clades that differed genetically by 7.14%. Multivariate analyses of external and cranial measurements from 63 populations ofP. pectoralisrevealed 4 morpho-groups consistent with clades in the DNA sequence analysis: 1 from Texas and New Mexico assignable toP. p. laceianus; a 2nd from western and southern Mexico assignable toP. p. pectoralis; a 3rd from northern and central Mexico previously assigned toP. p. pectoralisbut herein shown to represent an undescribed taxon; and a 4th from southeastern Mexico assignable toP. p. collinus. Based on the concordance of these results, populations from the United States are referred to asP. laceianus, whereas populations from Mexico are referred to asP. pectoralis(including some samples historically assigned toP. p. collinus,P. p. laceianus, andP. p. pectoralis). A new subspecies is described to represent populations south of the Río Grande in northern and central Mexico. Additional research is needed to discern ifP. p. collinuswarrants species recognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Bradley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Schmidly
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Amman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Roy N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Platt
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Kathy M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Howard M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muñiz-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López-González
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University , Lubbock, TX 79409-3131 , USA (RDB, HMH, NO-G).
authors.forename: Nicté
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ordóñez-Garza
keywords: DNA sequences; Peromyscus pectoralis; cytochrome-b gene; morphometrics; taxonomy