The history of Ctenomys in the fossil record: a young radiation of an ancient family

VERZI, DIEGO H.; DE SANTI, NAHUEL A.; OLIVARES, A. ITATÍ; MORGAN, C.; ÁLVAREZ, ALICIA

Tuco-Tucos. An evolutionary approach to the diversity of a Neotropical rodent

Springer Nature Switzerland

Año: 2021; p. 1 - 289

We review the history of the South American hystricomorph rodent family Ctenomyidae as told by its fossil record and phylogenetic hypotheses. Differing interpretations of the evolutionary significance of extinct taxa have led to disparate accounts of the history of the family. Thus, assessing hypotheses that assign fossils to the different evolutionary stages of the clade is necessary to provide reliable age estimations of origin and extinction of lineages. We discuss the conceptually different definitions of the family and of genus Ctenomys and their evolutionary implications, and highlight the importance of identifying the earliest fossils of both the total clade Ctenomyidae and the crown clade Ctenomys for the calibration of molecular phylogenies. We consider that Ctenomyidae is an ancient family with a temporally extended stem group that includes even middle Pleistocene species of the only surviving genus, Ctenomys. On the contrary, the strikingly diverse crown clade Ctenomys would have reached its unusually high current taxonomic and ecological diversification, as well as its widespread distribution, in a surprisingly short lapse.