Ancient DNA re-opens the question of the phylogenetic position of the Sardinian pika Prolagus sardus (Wagner, 1829), an extinct lagomorph.

Palaeogenomics is contributing to refine our understanding of many major evolutionary events at an unprecedented resolution, with relevant impacts in several fields, including phylogenetics of extinct species. Few extant and extinct animal species from Mediterranean regions have been characterised at the DNA level thus far. The Sardinian pika, Prolagus sardus (Wagner, 1829), was an iconic lagomorph species that populated Sardinia and Corsica and became extinct during the Holocene.

Checklist of rodents and insectivores of the Crimean Peninsula.

A dataset comprising 6806 records is presented of 17 (of total 24) rodent and insectivore species from the Crimean Peninsula collected during a 35-year period. All records are stored in the Public Mammal Database (Mammals of Russia; http://rusmam.ru/).

Genetics, morphology and ecology reveal a cryptic pika lineage in the Sikkim Himalaya.

Asian pika species are morphologically ∼similar and have overlapping ranges. This leads to uncertainty and species misidentification in the field. Phylogenetic analyses of such misidentified samples leads to taxonomic ambiguity.

Endogenization of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-like elements in genomes of pikas (Ochotona sp.).

Despite the finding in European rabbit and other leporid genomes of the first ever described endogenous lentivirus and of a European rabbit exclusive endogenous gammaretrovirus, until now no exogenous retroviruses have been isolated in Lagomorpha species. Nevertheless, looking for the presence of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in the species genomes could lead to the discovery of retroviral lineages yet to be found in Lagomorpha. Different mammalian genomes harbor endogenous viral sequences phylogenetically close to the betaretrovirus mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), propelling us to look for such retroviral "fossil" in American pika (Ochotona princeps) and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) genomes.

Pseudogenization of CCL14 in the Ochotonidae (pika) family.

The interaction between chemokines and their receptors is crucial for inflammatory cell trafficking. CCL14 binds with high affinity to CCR5. In leporids, CCR5 underwent gene conversion with CCR2.

The phylogeny of pikas (Ochotona) inferred from a multilocus coalescent approach.

The clarification of the systematics of pikas (genus Ochotona) has been hindered by largely overlapping morphological characters among species and the lack of a comprehensive molecular phylogeny. Here we estimate the first multilocus phylogeny of the genus to date, by analysing 12 nuclear DNA markers (total of 7.5Kb) in 11 species of pikas from the four classified subgenera (Pika, Ochotona, Lagotona and Conothoa) using a multispecies coalescent-based framework.

An intriguing shift occurs in the novel protein phosphatase 1 binding partner, TCTEX1D4: evidence of positive selection in a pika model.

T-complex testis expressed protein 1 domain containing 4 (TCTEX1D4) contains the canonical phosphoprotein phosphatase 1 (PPP1) binding motif, composed by the amino acid sequence RVSF. We identified and validated the binding of TCTEX1D4 to PPP1 and demonstrated that indeed this protein is a novel PPP1 interacting protein. Analyses of twenty-one mammalian species available in public databases and seven Lagomorpha sequences obtained in this work showed that the PPP1 binding motif 90RVSF93 is present in all of them and is flanked by a palindromic sequence, PLGS, except in three species of pikas (Ochotona princeps, O.

Mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence variations and population structure of Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus) in Northeastern Asia and population substructure in South Korea.

Twenty-five chipmunk species occur in the world, of which only the Siberian chipmunk, Tamias sibiricus, inhabits Asia. To investigate mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence variations and population structure of the Siberian chipmunk in northeastern Asia, we examined mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences (1140 bp) from 3 countries. Analyses of 41 individuals from South Korea and 33 individuals from Russia and northeast China resulted in 37 haplotypes and 27 haplotypes, respectively.