Molecular discrimination of pouched four-eyed opossums from the Mamirauá Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon

• Published in: Genetics and molecular biology Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 283 - 286
• Main Authors: Nunes, Cláudia, Ayres, Jose Marcio, Sampaio, Iracilda, Schneider, Horacio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Genética 01-01-2006
• Subjects: BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; cytochrome B; Didelphis marsupialis; GENETICS & HEREDITY; Mamirauá; molecular phylogeny; mtDNA; Philander; pouched four-eyed opossum; Philander; mtDNA; pouched four-eyed opossum; molecular phylogeny; cytochrome B; Mamirauá
• ISSN: 1415-4757; 1678-4685; 1415-4757; 1678-4685
• DOI: 10.1590/S1415-47572006000200015

Previous cytochrome B (CytB) mtDNA studies have suggested four species for the opossum genus Philander (four-eyed opossums), three (P. mcilhennyi, P. andersoni and P. opossum) from the Amazon and one (P. frenata) from the Brazilian Atlantic forest. During a faunal survey nine specimens of Philander sp. and four of Didelphis marsupialis were collected in the Mamiraua Sustainable Reserve, Amazonas State, Brazil. Preliminary analyses based on morphology and geographical distributions were not conclusive, suggesting that Philander specimens could belong to either P. andersoni or P. opossum. In order to elucidate the relationship of this taxon to the remaining Amazonian taxa, seven Philander and two Didelphis specimens animals were sequenced for the cytB mtDNA gene and compared to other previously studied taxa. The maximum likelihood (ML), neighbor-Joining (NJ) and maximum parsimony (MP) consensus bootstrap trees depicted six groups: Didelphis., P. frenata, P andersoni, P. mcilhennyi, P.o. opossum and Philander sp. and Philander canus in a common assemblage supported by significant bootstrap values, suggesting that the Philander sp. from Mamiraua in fact belongs to the species Philander canus.