Akodon philipmyersi

Taxobox
name = "Akodon philipmyersi"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
familia = Cricetidae
subfamilia = Sigmodontinae
tribus = Akodontini
genus = "Akodon"
species = "A. philipmyersi"
binomial = "Akodon philipmyersi"
binomial_authority = Pardiñas, D'Elia, Cirignoli, Suarez, 2005

"Akodon philipmyersi" is a recently described species of grass mouse from Misiones Province, Argentina. Like other grass mice, A. philipmyersi is a small, non-descript, greyish-brown mouse with prominent ears. The species was recognized as distinct from other grass mice on the basis of unique features of karyology, genetic sequence, cranial measurements, and general morphology.

Etymology

The specific epithet for this animal, "philipmyersi", is named after renowned mammalogist Philip Myers of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology and major contributor to the [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html Animal Diversity Web] . Philip Myers has made major contributions in determining the relationships among members of the genus "Akodon".

Description

"A. philipmyersi" is described as having a small body size, tail, and limbs relative to other members of the genus. The animals have a karyotype of (2n=36, FN=42). The species differs from its only sympatric relative, "A. montensis", by 11.3-11.4% sequence divergence at the cytochrome b gene. "A. montensis" can also be distinguished by its 2n=24 chromosome number and by its preference for forest instead of grassland habitat.

Natural history

"A. philipmyersi" seems to prefer grassland areas with tall vegetation. Remains of the animals have also been found in owl pellets.

Relation to other species

Pardiñas et al. (2005) suggest that the closest relative to "A. philipmyersi" is "A. lindberghi", but this is only weakly supported statistically. Morphometric analyses and a shared number of chromosomes (n=36), also point to a similarity between these two species. The two are distinct both morphometrically and genetically (cytochrome b divergence = 10.1%).

References

*Pardiñas, U. F. J., G. D'Elia, S. Crignoli, and P. Suarez. 2005. A new species of "Akodon" (Rodentia, Cricetidae) from the northern Campos grasslands of Argentina. Journal of Mammalogy, 86:462-474.