GENETIC DIVERSITY OF THE WHITE-EARED OPOSSUM Didelphis albiventris (DIDELPHIMORPHIA: DIDELPHIDAE) IN ARGENTINA

CHEMISQUY M.A.; MORINIGO, F.; FAMELI, A.; GONZALEZ ITTIG, R.

Mastozoología Neotropical

SAREM

Año: 2021

The white-eared opossumDidelphis albiventris Lund, 1840, is one the largest and most commonspecies of marsupial in Argentina, distributed from the north of the country upto Neuquén and Río Negro provinces in the south. The species is present incontrasting environments, such as the Monte (desert) and the Parana Forest(rainforest), and is also adapted to live in large cities and agriculturalfields. Although there are some phylogeographic analyses of Brazilianpopulations of D. albiventris, showing little variation and some geographicstructure, up to now none of them included samples from Argentina. The aim ofthis contribution is to analyze the genetic structure of the species, using twomitochondrial markers (cytochrome b and D-loop) on a wide geographic coveragein Argentina (> 10º S). Results showed little genetic variation and lowhaplotype diversity, with lesser values than those reported for Brazilianpopulations. This small variation could be due to a sudden expansion, which issupported by field observations of the species expanding to the south.Unfortunately, the low genetic variability resulted in low statistical power togive conclusive results in the mismatch analysis or the Bayesian skyline plot.Another possibility is high levels of gene flow, which is consistent with thestatistically significant but low correlation of genetic and geographicdistances detected in the Mantel test and the wide home range that the specieshas. A different approach, using a different set of markers, is needed in orderto analyze the phylogeographic history of D. albiventris.