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1 August 2000 A NEW SUBSPECIES OF POCKET GOPHER (GENUS GEOMYS) FROM THE OZARK MOUNTAINS OF ARKANSAS WITH COMMENTS ON ITS HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY
Douglas A. Elrod, Earl G. Zimmerman, Philip D. Sudman, Gary A. Heidt
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Abstract

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the cytochrome-b gene of mtDNA and univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of cranial morphology were used to determine the evolutionary status of relictual, isolated populations of pocket gophers (genus Geomys) from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Results of the mtDNA sequence analysis indicated that populations from the Ozark Mountains are most similar to G. bursarius missouriensis in Missouri and not to geographically proximate populations of G. breviceps. Morphological analyses were concordant with those results. Our findings confirm earlier work comparing similarities in allozymes and species-specific ectoparasites. Nucleotide sequence and morphological divergence between the Ozark populations and G. bursarius missouriensis are typical of differentiation between other subspecies of G. bursarius. We conclude that populations of pocket gophers isolated in the Ozark Mountains represent a discrete genetic entity and should be recognized as a new subspecies.

Douglas A. Elrod, Earl G. Zimmerman, Philip D. Sudman, and Gary A. Heidt "A NEW SUBSPECIES OF POCKET GOPHER (GENUS GEOMYS) FROM THE OZARK MOUNTAINS OF ARKANSAS WITH COMMENTS ON ITS HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY," Journal of Mammalogy 81(3), 852-864, (1 August 2000). https://doi.org/10.1644/1545-1542(2000)081<0852:ANSOPG>2.3.CO;2
Received: 5 October 1998; Accepted: 4 November 1999; Published: 1 August 2000
KEYWORDS
biogeography
Geomys
new subspecies
Ozark Mountains
pocket gopher
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