PARENT SESSION

Systematics/Zoogeography 2 -- Session Chair: Robert Anderson-- Nelson Hall East, Goodwin Forum

GENETIC VARIATION IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WOODRAT (NEOTOMA MICROPUS). J. Delton Hanson and Robert D. Bradley. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.

ABSTRACT- The southern plains woodrat is a large gray rat found from northern Mexico through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. N. micropus exists in sympatry with its sister species Neotoma leucodon through most of their respective ranges. Birney (1976) has suggested that there may be hybridization occurring in southern Colorado, as well as northern Mexico, while others have suggested a hybrid zone in southwestern Oklahoma (Monte Thies pers. com.). Several samples of N. micropus have been caught from both southern Texas and northern Mexico, which have been difficult to distinguish from N. leucodon based on pelage color. Genetic analyses were performed on animals from across the range of N. micropus, using a mitochondrial gene (DLoop) and a nuclear gene (Adh). Preliminary data shows micropus following the sub specific groupings set out by Hall (1991). Currently, samples from Mexico are basal to the clade from the United States. More samples are currently being analyzed from the northern Mexico and southern Texas groups as well as reference samples of leucodon.

KEY WORDS: Neotoma