INTRASPECIFIC VARIATION IN ECHIMYS CHRYSURUS (Zimmermann, 1780) (Rodentia, Echimyidae)

• Grant number: 23/16032-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Reis Percequillo
• Grantee: Camila Mayume Machado Ishizaki
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/11444-0 - Diversity of neotropical rodents (Rodentia: Sciuridae, Cricetidae, Echimyidae): origin, evolution and biogeography, AP.TEM

Abstract

Studies about geographic variation and phylogeography are conducted in the biogeography field and are important for biodiversity and evolution process understanding. The Echimyidae family, represented by spiny rats, it's the most diverse among rodent caviomorph families, with 28 genera and 89 species, and there's a lot to be learned about its composition and evolutive history in all taxonomic levels. Belonging to this family, Echimys chrysurus is the most well-distributed species of the genus Echimys, and there is collect records from at least nine Amazon ecoregions (Griffith et al., 1998) and, until present, there's no knowledge about its biogeography and diversity. Therefore, in order to study the intraspecific variation in E. chrysurus, in view of it's geographic distribution with heterogeneous landscapes and the relevance of genetic and phenotypic diversity for adaptation in different habitats, the morphologic, morphometric and molecular characters (using mitochondrial gene cytochrome b) of the species will be studied in this project. Similar academic works obtained relevant information, as the recognition of units with the same variation pattern, identification of microevolution patterns of the selected species, with may result in a formal description of new species.