Abstract
Wiedomys Hershkovitz, 1959, was considered to be a monotypic genus for >40 years until P.R. Gonçalves et al. described Wiedomys cerradensis from the Cerrado savannas of central Brazil. The geographic distribution of this arboreal species is not yet fully understood. The present study confirms the occurrence of the species in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. A male Wiedomys specimen was collected in the Inhamum Municipal Environmental Protection Area, which is dominated by Cerrado vegetation, although the species could not be identified from morphological characteristics alone. Molecular analyses were based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. The cytochrome b sequences indicated low divergence between the Maranhão specimen and W. cerradensis, and much higher divergence from the specimens of Wiedomys pyrrhorhinus, with the two species being well defined according to the high bootstrap values obtained in the analysis. The molecular data nevertheless permitted the confirmation of the occurrence of W. cerradensis in Maranhão, the first record of the species in this state, at a location >900 km from its previously known distribution.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Maranhão State Scientific Research and Development Foundation (FAPEMA) for financing this study, and the members of the GENBIMOL family (Genetics and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Caxias, Maranhão, Brazil) for technical support. We would also like to thank Gleison Robson of the Aquatic Entomology Laboratory at CESC/UEMA for assistance with photography and editing, as well as his suggestions for the improvement of the original manuscript. We are also grateful for CAPES for graduate fellowship for BATPC.
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