Brush-tailed mice, family Calomyscidae, are endemic to southwestern Asia and are represented by eight described species and three additional lineages. Although this family includes only a single genus, Calomyscus , in which several molecular phylogenies were recovered as a monophyletic clade, no updated evolutionary survey has been undertaken until now. We present a time-calibrated molecular phylogenetic tree of members of this genus using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. According to our results, divergence of calomyscid species occurred between 5.85 and 3.35 Mya during the Late Miocene and Pliocene. It seems that the species that occur in the eastern part of the range of the family diverged earlier (highest posterior density (HPD) 3.95–7.28 Mya) from congeners than those from the western part (HPD 2.18–4.24 Mya). Furthermore, we provide new insights on a poorly known species, C. grandis , endemic to the Elburz Mountains, including its phylogeny, morphology (geometric morphometric, karyology, and traditional morphometric methods), and distribution. Our findings show greater haplotype diversity than previously reported and extend the known range of C. grandis in northern Iran. Molecular data detects the existence of an additional distinct lineage from the Zagros Mountains, which appears to be differentiated from other lineages of Calomyscus at levels observed between species. Morphologically, compared to other species, the new lineage is the largest brush-tailed mouse and shows a number of remarkable differences in cranial features (e.g., widest cranium and highest mandible) with chromosomal component 2 n = 44 and FNa = 62. Higher species diversity of calomyscids around the Iranian Plateau may be the result of geological events and the subsequent aridification during the Pliocene. The Lut Desert and the Zagros Mountains provided barriers and refugal habitat, respectively, that likely contributed to speciation events within the genus. Additional sampling may discover more distinct lineages in the Zagros Mountains or Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean region.

中文翻译：

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亚洲西南部刷尾鼠鼠科（Rodentia）的多样化和进化史

刷尾鼠（Calomyscidae）是亚洲西南部的特有种，由八个描述的物种和三个额外的谱系代表。尽管该科仅包括一个属 Calomyscus，其中几个分子系统发育被恢复为单系进化枝，但直到现在还没有进行更新的进化调查。我们使用线粒体和核标记提出了该属成员的时间校准分子系统发育树。根据我们的结果，在晚中新世和上新世期间，calomyscid 物种的分歧发生在 5.85 和 3.35 Mya 之间。似乎发生在该科范围东部的物种比来自西部的物种（HPD 2.18-4.24 Mya）更早（最高后验密度（HPD）3.95-7.28 Mya）从同源物分化。此外，我们提供了关于厄尔布尔士山脉特有的鲜为人知的物种 C. grandis 的新见解，包括其系统发育、形态学（几何形态测量学、核组学和传统形态测量学方法）和分布。我们的研究结果显示了比之前报道的更大的单倍型多样性，并扩展了伊朗北部 C. grandis 的已知范围。分子数据检测到来自扎格罗斯山脉的另外一个不同谱系的存在，在物种之间观察到的水平上，它似乎与 Calomyscus 的其他谱系不同。在形态上，与其他物种相比，新谱系是最大的刷尾小鼠，在颅骨特征（例如，最宽的颅骨和最高的下颌骨）方面表现出许多显着差异，染色体成分 2 n = 44，FNa = 62。伊朗高原周围蛴螬物种多样性较高可能是上新世地质事件和随后干旱化的结果。卢特沙漠和扎格罗斯山脉分别提供了屏障和栖息地，这可能有助于该属内的物种形成事件。额外的采样可能会在扎格罗斯山脉或安纳托利亚和地中海东部地区发现更多不同的谱系。