"Acomyinae": new molecular evidences for a muroid taxon (Rodentia : Muridae)

The taxonomic position of the spiny mouse (genus Acomys) within the Murinae (Rodentia) was first challenged by the immunological data of SARICH (1985). Subsequent molecular data have also excluded Acomys from the murine rodents, in association with two murine genera (Uranomys and Lophuromys) and a "dendromurine" Deomys; this group was designed as "Acomyinae". We present here complementary DNA/DNA hybridization results, mitochondrial gene sequences (12S rRNA) and nuclear gene sequences (LCAT), which confirm the existence of an "Acomyine" clade, that comprises Acomys, Uranomys, Lophuromys and Deomys. But there is still no morphological synapomorphy that can define this group. We also evidenced that the Murinae, Gerbillinae and Acomyinae are sister groups but we were not able to decipher their relationships.