Phylogenetic relationships of New Guinean rodents (Rodentia: Muridae) based on chromosomes.

Abstract

The standard and C-banded chromosomes of 10 species from eight genera of New Guinea rodents are described. The data show that Anisomys, Lorentzimys, Pogonomys and possibly Chiruromys, previously karyotyped by Dennis and Menzies (1979), appear to form a clade by virtue of a shared Robertsonian rearrangement. The karyotypes of the two Uromys species examined differ by multiple rearrangements. Further investigations of these species and their New Guinean congeners may provide a framework for the resolution of the systematics of Australo-Papuan Uromys.