A new subspecies of pocket gopher (genus Geomys) from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas with comments on its historical biogeography

Nucleotide sequence analysis of the cytochrome-b gene of mtDNA and univaria te and multivariate statistical analyses of cranial morphology were used to determine the evolutionary status of relictual, isolated populations of po cket gophers (genus Geomys) from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Results o f the mtDNA sequence analysis indicated that populations from the Ozark Mou ntains are most similar to G. bursarius missouriensis in Missouri and not t o geographically proximate populations of G. breviceps. Morphological analy ses were concordant with those results. Our findings confirm earlier work c omparing similarities in allozymes and species-specific ectoparasites, Nucl eotide sequence and morphological divergence between the Ozark populations and G. bursarius missouriensis are typical of differentiation between other subspecies of G. bursarius. We conclude that populations of pocket gophers isolated in the Ozark Mountains represent a discrete genetic entity and sh ould be recognized as a new subspecies.