Open AccessUnexpected low genetic variation in the South American hystricognath rodent Lagostomus maximus (Rodentia: Chinchillidae)
Author(s) -
María Constanza Gariboldi,
Pablo Ignacio Felipe Inserra,
Sergio Lucero,
Mauricio Failla,
S. Iván Pérez,
Alfredo Daniel Vitullo
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0221559
Subject(s) - biology , subspecies , metapopulation , population , genetic variation , genetic diversity , population bottleneck , range (aeronautics) , genetic variability , evolutionary biology , genetic structure , effective population size , zoology , genetics , microsatellite , biological dispersal , demography , allele , gene , genotype , materials science , composite material , sociology
The South American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus inhabits primarily the Pampean and adjoining Espinal, Monte and Chaquenean regions of Argentina. In order to study the population genetic structure of L . maximus , a fragment of 560 bp of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region 1from 90 individuals collected from the 3 subspecies and 8 groups along Argentina was amplified and analyzed. We found 9 haplotypes. The haplotype network did not show an apparent phylogeographical signal. Although low levels of genetic variation were found in all the subspecies and groups analyzed, a radiation of L . maximus would have occurred from the North and Center of the Pampean region toward the rest of its geographic range in Argentina. Low levels of genetic diversity, the existence of a single genetically distinct population in Argentina and changes of its effective size indicate that metapopulation processes and changes in human population dynamics during the late-Holocene were important factors shaping the population genetic structure of L . maximus in Argentina.