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Multilocus Coalescent Analyses Reveal The Demographic History And Speciation Patterns Of Mouse Lemur Sister Species, Christopher Blair, Kellie L. Heckman, Amy L. Russell, Anne D. Yoder
Multilocus Coalescent Analyses Reveal The Demographic History And Speciation Patterns Of Mouse Lemur Sister Species, Christopher Blair, Kellie L. Heckman, Amy L. Russell, Anne D. Yoder
Amy L. Russell
Background: Debate continues as to whether allopatric speciation or peripatric speciation through a founder effect is the predominant force driving evolution in vertebrates. The mouse lemurs of Madagascar are a system in which evolution has generated a large number of species over a relatively recent time frame. Here, we examine speciation patterns in a pair of sister species of mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus and M. griseorufus. These two species have ranges that are disparately proportioned in size, with M. murinus showing a much more extensive range that marginally overlaps that of M. griseorufus. Given that these two species are sister …