Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 84 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (part col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xv, 166 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) -- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2006. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 28, 2006). Thesis advisor: Lisa Muller. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 99 p. : col. maps Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

The evolutionary relationships of woodrats (Neotoma) were elulcidated through phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA restriction site and allozyme data. DNA samples from eleven nominal species from the genus Neotoma and two outgroup taxa, Ototylomys phyttotis and Xenomys nelsoni, were cleaved using a suite of 17 Type II restriction endonucleases. Mitochondrial DNA restriction profiles were visualized following electrophoresis of restriction digests via methods of Southern transfer and hybridization with 32P- and digoxigenin-labeled mtDNA probes. Restriction mapping resulted in the identification of 37 unique mtDNA haplotypes among the woodrat taxa examined. Proteins representing 24 presumptive structural gene loci were examined through starch gel electrophoresis. Binary-coded allozyme data and allozyme frequency data were analyzed using PAUP and FREQPARS, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA restriction site data incorporated three different character type assumptions: unordered binary characters, Dollo characters, and differentially weighted unordered characters employing the STEPMATRIX option of PAUP. Proposed phylogenies for Neotoma are based on majority-rule consensus trees produced using bootstrap procedures. Phylogenetic analyses of the woodrat data sets revealed a distinct dichotomy among populations of white-throated woodrats (N. albigula) suggesting the presence of cryptic species within that taxon. MtDNA and allozyme data support the specific status of N. devia as distinct from N. lepida, and additionally reveal the presence of a third cryptic species referable to N. intermedia among the desert woodrats. Phylogenetic analyses of the genetic data also suggest subgeneric status for the desert woodrats, which is in agreement with evidence from morphology. The genetic data revealed a sister group relationship between N. stephensi and samples of N. mexicana, suggesting the placement of N. stephensi into the N. mexicana species-group. Neotoma fuscipes and N. cinerea formed a monophyletic lineage basal to the remaining members of the subgenus Neotoma which supports the assignment of N. fuscipes to the subgenus Teonoma with N. cinerea. Although stringent, Dollo parsimony methods produced the best supported phylogenies among the species of Neotoma. The STEPMATRIX approach was unable to resolve species relationships within species-groups but clearly delineated the higher taxonomic levels between species-groups and subgenera.

No description available.

No description available.

A life history field study of the widespread desert wood rat, Neotoma lepida lepida Thomas, was conducted periodically from August, 1959, to June, 1960, eight miles west of Jericho, Juab County, Utah. An estimation of the density of houses and population density of wood rats throughout the general region, accomplished by charted guadrats and a plotless quarter method, revealed an average densityof 4.9 houses of 3.1 adult wood rats per acre in a juniper-sagebrush community of the type frequently found throughout the area. Live-trapping within a well-wooded juniper-sagebrush community (twenty-four acre area) revealed twenty-seven wood rats captured sixty-eight times for a density of only 1.1 rats per acre. Each occupied house was usually inhabited by only one adult wood rat.

Electrophoretic variation in 18 proteins encoded by 20 autosomal loci was used to compare the genetic relationships of 19 natural populations representing three species of the subgenus Neotoma. Of the 20 loci examined nine were monomorphic and fixed for the same allele in all populations. No more than seven loci were polymorphic within a single population. Genetic variability was expressed as the proportion of loci heterozygous in the average individual of a population. Heterozygosity in the three species of Neotoma studied averaged 0.078, a value within the range reported for other rodents. Although the levels of heterozygosity seen in Neotoma could not readily be explained, the variation may be attributed to ecological factors. The three species of Neotoma were compared on the basis of genetic similarity and found to form a close taxonomic unit, probably semispecies. Divergence times were obtained for the three species and found to compare well with divergence times obtained from fossil data. In general, the three species have diverged within the last 112,000 years during the Wisconsin glacial period.

No description available.