Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25229558›Full record

ArticlePloS one2014

Local and regional scale genetic variation in the Cape dune mole-rat, Bathyergus suillus.

Jacobus H Visser, Nigel C Bennett, Bettine Jansen van Vuuren

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Jacobus H VisserDepartment of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa.
Nigel C BennettMammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Bettine Jansen van VuurenDepartment of Zoology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The distribution of genetic variation is determined through the interaction of life history, morphology and habitat specificity of a species in conjunction with landscape structure. While numerous studies have investigated this interplay of factors in species inhabiting aquatic, riverine, terrestrial, arboreal and saxicolous systems, the fossorial system has remained largely unexplored. In this study we attempt to elucidate the impacts of a subterranean lifestyle coupled with a heterogeneous landscape on genetic partitioning by using a subterranean mammal species, the Cape dune mole-rat (Bathyergus suillus), as our model. Bathyergus suillus is one of a few mammal species endemic to the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of the Western Cape of South Africa. Its distribution is fragmented by rivers and mountains; both geographic phenomena that may act as geographical barriers to gene-flow. Using two mitochondrial fragments (cytochrome b and control region) as well as nine microsatellite loci, we determined the phylogeographic structure and gene-flow patterns at two different spatial scales (local and regional). Furthermore, we investigated genetic differentiation between populations and applied Bayesian clustering and assignment approaches to our data. Nearly every population formed a genetically unique entity with significant genetic structure evident across geographic barriers such as rivers (Berg, Verlorenvlei, Breede and Gourits Rivers), mountains (Piketberg and Hottentots Holland Mountains) and with geographic distance at both spatial scales. Surprisingly, B. suillus was found to be paraphyletic with respect to its sister species, B. janetta-a result largely overlooked by previous studies on these taxa. A systematic revision of the genus Bathyergus is therefore necessary. This study provides a valuable insight into how the biology, life-history and habitat specificity of animals inhabiting a fossorial system may act in concert with the structure of the surrounding landscape to influence genetic distinctiveness and ultimately speciation.

Indexed as

Genetic VariationAnimalsCluster AnalysisDNA, MitochondrialGene FlowGenetics, PopulationGeographyMicrosatellite RepeatsMole RatsPhylogenyPhylogeographySouth AfricaDNA, Mitochondrial

Identifiers

PMID25229558
PMCPMC4167993

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.