Abrothrix Waterhouse 1837

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1088

Abrothrix Waterhouse 1837

Abrothrix Waterhouse 1837 , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1837: 21.

Type Species: Mus longipilis Waterhouse 1837

Synonyms: Chroeomys Thomas 1916 ; Habrothrix Wagner 1843 .

Species and subspecies: 9 species:

Species Abrothrix andinus Philippi 1858

Species Abrothrix hershkovitzi Patterson, Gallardo, and Freas 1984

Species Abrothrix illuteus Thomas 1925

Species Abrothrix jelskii Thomas 1894

Species Abrothrix lanosus Thomas 1897

Species Abrothrix longipilis Waterhouse 1837

Species Abrothrix markhami Pine 1973

Species Abrothrix olivaceus Waterhouse 1837

Species Abrothrix sanborni Osgood 1943

Discussion: Akodontini (S Andean clade). An assemblage of species whose level of taxonomic recognition has come full circle: early employed as a genus ( Gyldenstolpe, 1932; Thomas, 1916); later viewed as subgenus of Akodon (Cabrera, 1961; Ellerman, 1941; Musser and Carleton, 1993; Reig, 1978, 1981, 1987) or even a full synonym of Microxus ( Hershkovitz, 1966 c); and recently reinstated to genus based on congruence of morphological, karyological, and genetic traits that set it apart from typical Akodon ( Apfelbaum and Reig, 1989; Barrantes et al., 1993; Gallardo et al., 1988; Smith and Patton, 1993, 1999; Spotorno et al., 1990). See Reig (1987), Spotorno et al. (1990), and Barrantes et al. (1993) for a review of the treatment of Abrothrix and its specific contents. Sister genus to the long-clawed akodonts ( Chelemys , etc.) according to cladistic interpretations of allozymic and cytochrome b data ( Barrantes et al., 1993; D’Elía, 2003; D’Elía et al., 2003; Smith and Patton, 1993, 1999).

Working with N species of the S Andean clade (i.e., jelskii and andinus ), Patton et al. (1989; and later Smith and Patton, 1991, 1993, and Patton and Smith, 1992) conveyed their genetic divergence and cladistic separation by employing the local genus-group taxon Chroeomys (type species in Perú). Described as a genus ( Thomas, 1916 c), Chroeomys , like Abrothrix , was afterwards conventionally viewed as a subgenus of Akodon (Cabrera, 1961; Ellerman, 1941; Gardner and Patton, 1976; Reig, 1987) until the studies of Patton and Smith. Although Smith and Patton (1999) have continued to recognize Chroeomys as a genus (including jelskii but not andinus which they returned to Abrothrix ), their own gene-sequence analyses consistently nest jelskii among species of Abrothrix , not basal to them. These results, together with the persuasive body of evidence cited above, recommend the junior synonymy of Chroeomys .