Molecular phylogeny and historical biogeography of Iranian Murid rodents inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b gene

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Abstract
The family Muridae represents the largest, most diverse and successful of all groups of mammals. Here we infer the phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography for the Iranian murid rodents, which consist in 17 species distributed in two subfamilies and six genera. Molecular dating analyses using a relaxed Bayesian molecular clock support the monophyly of Murinae and Gerbillinae and allow to set up a divergence date between them around 18.86 Ma (Million years ago). According to our results, murines may have originated approximately 13.49 Ma and the diversification of most of their evolutionary lineages may have taken place between 10–4 Ma, which is consistent with the fossil record. Our results provide strong support for the tribes Apodemyini and Rattini (Murinae) but the monophyly of the genus Meriones belonging to the Gerbillinae is questioned. Historical biogeographic analysis supports a Paleotropical origin for the Iranian murids, likely found in central and eastern Iran (Desert and Xeric Shrubland ecoregion). From there they dispersed to colonize the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Palearctic realms. All in all, Iran seems to have acted as a corridor for faunal exchanges between the Afrotropic and Saharo-Arabian realms and the Indomalayan realm as well as between Central Asia and the Mediterranean regions.

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