Multilocus systematics and non-punctuated evolution of Holarctic Myodini (Rodentia: Arvicolinae).

The tribe Myodini consists of five genera of forest and alpine voles (Alticola, Caryomys, Eothenomys, Hyperacrius and Myodes) distributed throughout the Holarctic. Because mitochondrial evidence has revealed paraphyly and polyphyly among genera, we apply the first multilocus tests to clarify taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships. Our analyses of 28 of 36 species within Myodini, including three not previously sequenced (A. montosa, A. albicaudus, and H. fertilis), identify four distinct clades and provide the first molecular evidence that Hyperacrius may not belong in Myodini. Myodes is paraphyletic, while polyphyly of Alticola reflects apparent ancient mitochondrial introgression. Diversification in this tribe was hypothesized to be tightly linked to Late Cenozoic climatic events, however, lineage through time analysis indicates diversification over the last 4 My was gradual and not strongly punctuated.

A solution to the challenges of interdisciplinary aggregation and use of specimen-level trait data.

Understanding variation of traits within and among species through time and across space is central to many questions in biology. Many resources assemble species-level trait data, but the data and metadata underlying those trait measurements are often not reported. Here, we introduce FuTRES (Functional Trait Resource for Environmental Studies; pronounced few-tress), an online datastore and community resource for individual-level trait reporting that utilizes a semantic framework. FuTRES already stores millions of trait measurements for paleobiological, zooarchaeological, and modern specimens, with a current focus on mammals. We compare dynamically derived extant mammal species' body size measurements in FuTRES with summary values from other compilations, highlighting potential issues with simply reporting a single mean estimate. We then show that individual-level data improve estimates of body mass-including uncertainty-for zooarchaeological specimens. FuTRES facilitates trait data integration and discoverability, accelerating new research agendas, especially scaling from intra- to interspecific trait variability.