Molecular and morphometric evidence validates a Chacoan species of the grey leaf-eared mice genus Graomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae)

Abstract

Since its formal definition, the genus Graomys (Thomas1916) has been the subject of numerous taxonomicchanges, both at the generic (Tate 1932, Osgood 1947,Pearson 1958, Hershkovitz 1962) and specific level(Cabrera 1961, Hershkovitz 1962, Pearson and Patton1976, Williams and Mares 1978, Steppan 1995). Cur-rently, four extant species are recognized: G. centralis (Thomas 1902a), G. domorum (Thomas 1902b), G. edi-thae (Thomas 1919), and G. griseoflavus (Waterhouse1837) (Musser and Carleton 2005, Dı´az et al. 2006).