Karyologic and Molecular Analysis of Proechimys Allen, 1899 (Rodentia, Echimyidae) From the Amazonian Region

Abstract

Karyologic and molecular analyses were carried out in Proechimys quadruplicatus and two other Proechimys species from the northern bank of the Rio Negro, Brazil. Analyses of cytb DNA sequence data and karyologic attributes partially sustained the goeldii species group. Molecular analyses grouped the two Proechimys sp. A haplotypes here sequenced with other specimens from the Amazonian region of Brazil and Venezuela, suggesting that they belonged to a single taxon. The three specimens of Proechimys sp. B also formed a monophyletic group. Proechimys sp. A,Proechimys sp. B, and P. guyannensis were grouped by karyologic and/or molecular data indicating that they are very similar one another and belong to the same species group, the guyannensis group. Phylogeographic analyses showed a high geographic structuration in the Proechimys sp. A population and the presence of a median vector between haplotypes of different rivers suggested that the large Amazonian rivers are barrier to these population.