Are rates of diversification in subterranean South American tuco-tucos (genus Ctenomys, Rodentia: Octodontidae) unusually high?
Cook, J.A.; Lessa, E.P.
Evolution 52(5): 21-7
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0014-3820 DOI: 10.2307/2411323
Accession: 009772290
The hypothesis that South American tuco-tucos (Ctenomys) possess unusually high rates of diversification was investigated. Tuco-tucos are the most speciose lineage of subterranean rodents and are thought to represent an extreme case of explosive diversification. The results revealed that tuco-tucos are not significantly more diverse than their sister taxon, the octodontines. However, data from a lineages-through-time analysis implied an increase in diversification at the base of the tuco-tuco clade.