A Short Overview of the Systematics of Ctenomys: Species Limits and Phylogenetic Relationships

Abstract

Ctenomys Blainville, 1826 is one of the most species-rich genera of Mammalia; the current count indicates that the genus has 64 living species (see below). Tuco-tuco species have mostly allopatric distributions, with some of them having very restricted geographical ranges (Bidau 2015) and in some cases being only known from their type localities (Teta and D’Elía 2019). The genus displays one the broadest range of chromosomic variation (2n = 10 to 2n = 70; Cook et al. 1990; Novello and Lessa 1986) of any mammal genus. As such, Ctenomys has long attracted the attention of evolutionary biologists aimed to characterize its diversity and to understand the drivers of such impressive radiation. These studies have been hampered, however, by a poor understanding of species boundaries and the species phylogenetic relationships.