Committee Chair

Gaudin, Tim; Shaw, Joey

Committee Member

Wilson, Thomas

Department

Dept. of Biological and Environmental Sciences

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Understanding the distributions of organisms is key to deciphering their biogeography. Shrews of the genus Blarina are some of the most common and abundant mammals in this region. Two species are found in southeast Tennessee: Blarina brevicauda and Blarina carolinensis. To clarify their geographic ranges, Blarina vouchers were collected throughout the study area and mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b genes were isolated and sequenced. I collected and compared 53 DNA sequences from shrews throughout southeast Tennessee and southwest North Carolina to 101 samples obtained from Genbank. Results indicate Blarina brevicauda is found in areas north and west of the Tennessee River and Blarina carolinensis is found in most areas south and east of the Tennessee River. B. brevicauda specimens fell into a monophyletic B. brevicauda clade, resolving with Genbank sequence data into haplotypes classified as either 'Appalachian’ or ‘East-Central’. B. carolinensis specimens were monophyletic, resolving into an ‘Eastern’ haplotype.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2013

Subject

Shrews

Discipline

Environmental Sciences

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xi, 51 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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