Mexican Woodrat – Neotoma mexicana

Neotoma mexicanaBaird, 1855

Accepterad namn, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Subgenus Neotoma, mexicana species group (sensu Edwards and Bradley, 2002b). Goldman (1910) recognized the synonyms listed here under seven species, an early view on diversity uncritically overturned during the broad-brushed application of the biological species concept (Hall, 1955; Hooper, 1955). However, a composite of three or more species, e.g., as indicated by the comments of Sánchez-Hernández et al. (1999) on the morphological distinctiveness of tenuicauda and torquata in Michoacán, and by the findings of Edwards and Bradley (2002a) on the large genetic distances recorded among US and Méxican populations. Using mitochondrial DNA sequences, Edwards and Bradley (2002b) subsequently elevated two epithets, isthmica and picta, to species, but the few specimens examined and very limited geographic representation of each raise questions about their eventual application to the genetic groups identified. The status o... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.