Systematic characterization of the species of the genus Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) of northern Argentina

SANCHEZ, ROCÍO TATIANA; IVANNA TOMASCO; BARQUEZ, RUBEN M.

Washington

Congreso; 99TH ANNUAL MEETING & CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS; 2019

American Society of Mammalogists

The genus Ctenomys comprises 69 nominal species of subterranean South American rodents known astuco-tucos, which diversified in the last 3.5 million years into an explosive cladodensis, possibly mediatedby chromosomal changes. It has been proposed as an exceptional model in several fields of evolutionarybiology. However, the main difficulty for such studies and to resolve its systematics is the lack of availableinformation of the recognized species. In northern Argentina, there are 28 out of 45 species described forthe country, and 18 were described by Oldfield Thomas about a century ago. Descriptions are limited tofew lines of qualitative information, restricted to few external and cranial morphological measurements ofspecimens from type localities and near surroundings, and holotypes are deposited in British Museum, notavailable for local studies. We planned to visit all the type localities of northern Argentina, and to collect,prepare skin and skeleton, take tissue samples and deposited vouchers in public Argentinean museum,and at the end do morphological and molecular comparisons with species previously characterized. Now,we were able to extend the description of C. bergi, C. coludo, C. famosus, C. fochi, C. johannis, C. juris andC. tulduco and to phylogenetically position them within the known phylogeny of the genus. New informationavailable will allow us to propose a complex phylogeographic scenario in the evolution of the genus.