Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner)

Bradley, Robert D., Francis, James Q., Platt II, Roy N., Soniat, Taylor J., Alvarez, Daysi & Lindsey, Laramie L., 2019, Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Data Indicate Evidence For Multiple Species Within Peromyscus Maniculatus, Special Publications of the Museum of Texas Tech University 70, pp. 1-59 : 21-22

Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner)

Hesperomys maniculatus Wagner, 1845:148 .

H[esperomys] gracilis Le Conte, 1855:442.

[ Hesperomys] arcticus Coues, 1877:61,67 .

Sitomys americanus canadensis Miller, 1893:55 .

Peromyscus leucopus nubiterrae Rhoads, 1896:187 .

Peromyscus canadensis abietorium Bangs, 1896:49 .

Peromyscus canadensis umbrinus Miller, 1897:23 .

Peromyscus maniculatus Bangs, 1898a:496 .

Peromyscus canadensis argentatus Copeland and Church, 1906:122 .

Peromyscus maniculatus gracilis Osgood, 1909:42 .

Peromyscus maniculatus abietorium Osgood, 1909:45 .

Peromyscus maniculatus argentatus Osgood, 1909:46 .

Peromyscus maniculatus eremus Osgood, 1909:47 .

Peromyscus maniculatus nubiterrae Osgood, 1909:47 .

Peromyscus maniculatus anticostiensis Moulthrop, 1937:11 .

Peromyscus maniculatus plumbeus C. F. Jackson, 1939:101 .

Holotype.— Osgood (1909) reported that the type specimen resided in the Zoologischer Staatssammlung in Munich, although no catalog number or ancillary data was provided. Specimens from the vicinity of Nain have been used for type location ( Osgood 1909). Presumably collected by Wagner .

Type locality.— The exact type locality is not known; however, the Moravian settlements in Labrador, specimens from Nain have been used as the type location based on the interpretations of Osgood (1909).

Subspecies.— Although we were not able to examine all of the recognized subspecies that potentially are referable to P. maniculatus , we tentatively assign the following nine subspecies recognized in Hall (1981) to P. maniculatus : abietorium, anticostiensis, argentatus, bairdi, eremus, gracilis, maniculatus , nubiterrae, and plumbeus.

Diagnosis.— Size is large for species group; measurements obtained from Osgood (1909), for several of the subspecies now assigned to P. maniculatus , indicated a total length averaging 187 mm; (range 174–200 mm) and tail length averaging 91.5 mm (range 79–104 mm). Coloration is based on synopsis of Osgood’s (1909) observations of several subspecies - back and sides are dark brown and tinged with fawn (varies among subspecies); venter is white; ears are dusky with pale edges; and tail is bicolored (brownish black above and white underneath).

Genetically (mitochondrial sequences; Dragoo et al. 2006; Kalkvik et al. 2012), P. maniculatus (specifically, samples referable to P. m. abietorium, P. m. bairdi, P. m. gracilis, P. m. plumbeus, P. m. maniculatus , and P. m. nubiterrae) have been shown to differ from other populations formerly assigned to P. maniculatus from the southwestern and central United States ( P. sonoriensis – see above; and P. polionotus ). In this study, Cyt b sequences indicated that P. maniculatus differed from P. gambelii , P. melanotis , P. polionotus , P. sejugis , and P. sonoriensis , by 4.90%, 6.65%, 5.12%, 5.40%, and 4.68%, respectively. Genetic differentiation (= 1.69%) based on DNA sequences obtained from 68 individuals of P. maniculatus was among the largest intraspecific values obtained in this study; however, P. maniculatus possesses one of the broadest geographic distributions of any taxon examined.

Distribution.— The distribution of P. maniculatus ranges from central Canada (Manitoba) eastward to Labrador then southward to Tennessee. It appears that populations of P. maniculatus are restricted to the eastern side of the Mississippi River. Samples from the western side of the Great Lakes area and boundaries of the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are needed to more accurately discern the boundaries of P. maniculatus and P. sonoriensis in this region.

Comparisons.— A member of the P. maniculatus species group. Phenotypically resembles other species in terms of size and coloration; although total and tail lengths are greater (typically 187 mm and 91.5 mm versus 151 mm and 65.5 mm, respectively) than in P. sonoriensis (populations west of the Mississippi River) and especially in comparison to P. polionotus (populations in the southeastern United States which average 130 mm and 47 mm, respectively).

Remarks.— One hundred-fourteen samples examined in this study were assigned to P. maniculatus . The type locality for P. maniculatus is unclear. Osgood (1909) interpreted the original type locality to be near the Moravian Settlements along the northeast coast of Labrador. In his revisionary work, Osgood (1909) included samples from Nain, Labrador as indicative of P. maniculatus . In this study, we also included two samples from Nain, Labrador; thereby following Osgood’s lead for a consistent comparison of presumably the same taxon.

Chromosomal variation reported for two of the subspecies in P. maniculatus includes a broad range of FNs for P. m. abietorum, P. m. anticostiensis, P. m. gracillis, P. m. maniculatus , and P. m plumbeus (FN = 77, 82, 86–88; Singh and McMillian 1966; Myers Uncie et al. 1997). Clearly additional studies are needed to fill in the gaps for FNs that based on the current data, must range at least from 76 to 88. The FNs reported for P. maniculatus span the ranges for reported for P. gambelii , P. labecula , and P. sonoriensis ; but differ substantially from those observed for P. melanotis (FN = 62, Hsu and Arrighi 1968; Bowers et al. 1973), P. polionotus (FN = 69–71, Te and Dawson 1971), and P. sejugis (FN = 76, Smith et al. 2000).

Recognition of P. maniculatus as a species, as outlined herein, is supported by the phylogenetic analyses of Dragoo et al. (2006) and Kalkvik et al. (2012) who suggested that a distinct lineage may occupy the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Additionally, Dragoo et al. (2006) reported that the greatest genetic divergence occurred between eastern clades and western clades. DNA sequence data (Cyt b) and conformity to the genetic species concept (see Bradley and Baker 2001; Baker and Bradley 2006) support elevation to species status. Divergence time estimates indicate that P. maniculatus (sensu stricto) diverged from P. labecula approximately 1.28 mya.