Peromyscus sp.

• Main Authors: Bradley, Robert D., Francis, James Q., Platt II, Roy N., Soniat, Taylor J., Alvarez, Daysi, Lindsey, Laramie L.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Cricetidae; Peromyscus; Peromyscus sp; Fort Simpson; Ross River; Yukon
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7221938; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/B252847FFFA2FFA5FBA33D2C44E7FA73

Peromyscus sp. Currently, there is not a definitive name available for populations from the southwestern Yukon region that were found to be distinct from other members of the P . maniculatus species group by Wike (1998), Lucid and Cook (2007), and this study. The Yukon specimens genetically are different from populations of P. keeni to the south and from populations of P. maniculatus - like forms to the southwest and southeast that are now referable to P. sonoriensis . Wike (1998) eludes to the fact that the name P. arcticus might serve as a valid name for this distinct taxon. Although initially described as Hesperomys leucopus arcticus (Mearns 1890:285), this taxon later was treated as a subspecies, Peromyscus maniculatus arcticus (Osgood 1900:33). Later, Mearns (1911), based on “opinion 4” by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature (1910) realized that P. m. arcticus represented a preoccupied name that had been proposed by Coues (1877). Further, Mearns (1911) recognized that P. m. arcticus was problematic since the name referred to a specimen from Labrador (presumably assignable to a taxon from eastern Canada; most likely P. m. maniculatus ); consequently, he described a new taxon ( P. m. borealis ) for the Yukon material and subsumed P. m. arcticus under this new subspecies and lists Fort Simpson, Yukon Territory, Canada as the type locality. Based on the data presented by Wike (1998), Lucid and Cook (2007), and this study, the situation is further complicated by the fact that populations formerly referred to P. m. borealis are now assigned to P. sonoriensis (e.g. P. s. borealis ). In fact, some of the samples, included herein (those assignable to P. s. borealis ) are located only 235 km from the type locality of P. s. borealis at Ft Simpson, Yukon Territory; whereas the closest population of the seemingly new species ( P. sp.; Lapie River; 8.5km West of Ross River) is located nearly 600 km to the west. However, it does not seem appropriate, at this time, to simply refer this new identified ...