RE-EVALUATION OF THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF THE SIGMODON HISPIDUS COMPLEX BASED ON MITOCHONDRIAL DNA SEQUENCES.

Geographic distribution among members of the Sigmodon hispidus complex (Sigmodon hirsutus, S. hispidus, and S. toltecus) were examined using DNA sequences from the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene. Geographic distribution of each taxon was defined based on DNA sequences obtained from 69 samples (19 newly obtained and 50 from previous studies) collected from North, Central, and South America. These data indicated that S. hispidus is restricted to the southern one-half of the United States and northeastern Mexico (Nuevo León and Tamaulipas), S. toltecus occupies the eastern one-third of Mexico (central Tamaulipas) to northern Honduras, and S. hirsutus is distributed from central Chiapas and southeastern Oaxaca to northern South America (Venezuela). The newly collected data extend distributions of S. hispidus from the southern United States southward into northeastern Mexico and that of S. toltecus from Chiapas, Mexico, southward to Honduras. Genetic divergence and patterns of phylogeography were examined within each taxon.