October 3, 2018
Source: Florida State University
How did a single species of rodent invade South America and then quickly branch off into 350 new species?
The answer is simple -- the rodents were able to move quickly across the continent unencumbered by geographic boundaries that can't be easily crossed such as an ocean.
FSU Professor of Biological Science Scott Steppan and his former postdoctoral researcher John Schenk, now at Georgia Southern University, developed a new model that shows how geography can play a major role in how families of animals evolve and result in many species. The research was part of a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to understand why the superfamily Muroidea (which includes the subfamily Sigmodontinae) is the most diverse branch of the mammal family tree.
The research is published in the journal American Naturalist.
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