Species Limits And Phylogenetic Relationships In The Didelphid Marsupial Genus Thylamys Based On Mitochondrial Dna Sequences And Morphology
Author
Giarla, T. C.
Author
Voss, R. S.
Author
Jansa, S. A.
text
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
2010
2010-12-16
2010
346
1
67
journal article
0003-0090
Thylamys tatei
(Handley, 1957)
SYNONYMS: None.
DISTRIBUTION: According to
Solari (2003)
, who examined more material than we have seen,
Thylamys tatei
is known only from the Peruvian department of
Ancash
and from the Lomas de Lachay in the northern part of the department of
Lima
, between 300 and
3000 m
above sea level. This species is not known to occur sympatrically with any other congener.
MORPHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS: Body pelage tricolored (abrupt line of transition from darker middorsal to paler lateral coloration present); ventral pelage with narrowly continuous median streak of self-white (or whitish) fur from chin to anus, flanked by broad lateral zones of gray-based hairs; plantar pads of manus separate, surrounding a concave central palmar surface, and with well-developed dermatoglyphs; manual claws long, extending well beyond fleshy apical pads of digits; tail longer than combined length of head and body (LT/HBL X 100
5
113%;
N
5
9), usually with pale tip (whitish above and below for distal
2–18 mm
); prehensile ventral surface of tail tip well developed. Nasal bones usually very long, extending posteriorly well behind lacrimals; lacrimal foramina concealed from lateral view inside orbit; infraorbital foramen above P3 or above P3/M1 commissure; nasolabial fossa shallow; supraorbital margins almost always rounded or squared; maxillary fenestrae almost always absent; unworn crown of second upper incisor (I2) consistently larger than crown of I3; stylar cusp C variably present or absent on M1, usually absent or indistinct on M2; metaconule absent on M3.
COMPARISONS: Comparisons between
Thylamys tatei
and other currently recognized species of the Elegans Group are provided in the preceding accounts. Mea-
TABLE 21
Measurements (mm) of Sequenced Specimens of
Thylamys
sp.
and
T. tatei
from
Peru
a
Thylamys
sp.
|
Arequipa |
Ayacucho |
Lima |
Thylamys tatei
(Ancash)
|
1166143 |
1378963 |
1199133 |
1375853 |
1355033 |
135504♀ |
Age |
adult |
adult |
subadult |
adult |
adult |
adult |
HBL |
80 |
91 |
98 |
98 |
— |
109 |
LT |
101 |
107 |
107 |
110 |
— |
118 |
HF |
14 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
16 |
15 |
Ear |
21 |
22 |
24 |
23 |
21 |
24 |
CBL |
25.6 |
— |
28.0 |
27.4 |
30.7 |
31.4 |
NL |
11.2 |
— |
12.1 |
— |
— |
— |
NB |
2.3 |
2.7 |
2.4 |
2.5 |
2.3 |
2.8 |
LIB |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.8 |
4.9 |
ZB |
13.5 |
13.8 |
14.8 |
14.6 |
16.0 |
17.5 |
PL |
14.2 |
— |
15.3 |
15.2 |
17.2 |
17.1 |
PB |
8.2 |
8.5b |
9.0 |
8.8 |
9.5 |
9.8 |
MTR |
10.4 |
10.6 |
11.4 |
11.0 |
12.1 |
11.8 |
LM |
5.6 |
5.7 |
6.0 |
5.9 |
6.4 |
5.9 |
M1–3 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
5.2 |
4.9 |
5.5 |
4.9 |
WM3 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
2.2 |
BW |
3.3 |
3.2 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.8 |
3.1 |
IBW |
3.3 |
3.6 |
4.1 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
4.3 |
a All specimens from MVZ.
b Estimated value.
surement data from sequenced specimens of
T. tatei
and specimens of related but unnamed forms from the Peruvian departments of
Arequipa
,
Ayacucho
, and
Lima
are provided in table 21.
REMARKS: Originally described as a valid species,
tatei
was subsequently listed as a synonym of
Thylamys elegans
by
Gardner (1993)
. Although our results are obviously consistent with recent inferences from molecular and morphological studies that
tatei
and
elegans
are distinct species (
Meynard et al., 2002
;
Palma et al., 2002
;
Solari, 2003
;
Braun et al., 2005
), other taxonomic problems remain. Foremost among these is the identification of specimens from the Peruvian provinces of
Lima
(e.g., MVZ 119913, 137585) and
Huancavelica
(e.g., MVZ 136249) that resemble
tatei
in having broad lateral zones of graybased ventral fur but which lack some of the diagnostic craniodental traits of
tatei
and have divergent mtDNA sequences. Although
Solari (2003)
identified these as
pallidior
(as discussed above), they cluster with
tatei
in our phylogenetic analyses.
SPECIMENS EXAMINED (
N
5
13):
Peru
—
Ancash
,
Chasquitambo (USNM 302915 [
holotype
], 302916), Huaráz (FMNH 81443),
1 km
N and
12 km
E Pariacoto (MVZ 155503–135512).