ABSTRACT
— Systematic relationships and biogeography of West Indian capromyid rodents are examined using data from molecular (cytochrome b gene) and morphological sources. Cladistic analyses using PAUP* indicate that the genus Plagiodontia from Hispaniola is basal to all other capromyids. The Capromyinae from Cuba and the western Antilles is more derived than are the Plagiodontinae from Hispaniola. Paleogeographical reconstructions of the Antilles indicate that it is likely that a land connection (or stepping-stone series of closely associated islands) linked northern South America and the central Greater Antilles approximately 33 million years ago along the Aves Ridge. Vicariance rather than dispersal may account for some of the distribution patters observed, with plagiodontines splitting off 33 myBP, capromyines splitting into Geocapromys and Capromys (sensu lato) 28 myBP, and capromyines splitting into Mysateles and Mesocapromys vs. Capromys 16.5 myBP. Subspecies level splits between Cuba and the Isla de Pinos occurred 3.96 myBP for Capromys subspecies and 1.32 myBP for Mysateles. The two different estimates of the time of the vicariance event that separated Isla de Pinos from Cuba of 3.96 myBP for Capromys and 1.32 myBP for Mysateles suggest that this event was not complete. We suspect that the date for Capromys is a more accurate estimate of the vicariance event, but that Mysateles was able to maintain gene flow between the island and the mainland at some level that slowed the rate of divergence.
