Biogeographical and ecological diversification of caviomorph rodents

OJEDA R. A; OJEDA A. A; NOVILLO, A

Belfast

Congreso; 11th International Mammalogical Congress; 2013

international Federation of Mammalogists & Queen´s University

The New World hystricognath rodents (Caviomorpha) probably came from Africa and diversified into major clades during the Eocene-Oligocene. In this presentation we address the biogeographical and ecological diversification of caviomorphs within a recent phylogenetic framework. Our main results show that: a) The Amazonia and the Atlantic forest are the macrohabitats with the highest species density; b) Species richness is associated with area and productivity; c) The extraordinary diversity of biogeographical and ecological attributes of extant superfamilies result from the diversification of ancestral character states. The most likely ancestral macrohabitat in the history of their diversification appears to be the Amazonia; whereas for the reconstruction of ecological characters (macroniches), our analysis hypothesized a saxicolous proto-caviomorph that fed on grasses, leaves and seeds. Our contribution highlights that caviomorph rodents serve as a good model for integrating and disentangling the roles of phylogeny, biogeography and ecology.