Molecular identification of four cryptic species of Mastomys (Rodentia, Murinae) Emilie Lecompte a,b,c , Carine Brouat d , Jean-Marc Duplantier e , Maxime Galan d , Laurent Granjon a,b,f , Anne Loiseau d , Karine Mouline f , Jean-Francois Cosson d, * a Muse ´um National d’Histoire Naturelle, De ´partement Syste ´matique et Evolution, UMR 5202, CP51, OSEB, Laboratoire Zoologie Mammife `res et Oiseaux, 55 rue Buffon, 75 005 Paris, France b Service de Syste ´matique Mole ´culaire, 37 rue Cuvier, 75 005 Paris, France c Institut fu ¨r Virologie, AG ter Meulen, Robert-Koch-strasse 17, 35 037 Marburg, Germany d INRA - IRD - Centre de Biologie et Gestion des Populations, Campus International de Baillarguet, CS 30016, 34988 Montferrier/Lez cedex, France e IRD - Centre de Biologie et Gestion des Populations, BP 1386 Dakar, Senegal f IRD - Laboratoire de Mammalogie, Centre de Biologie et Gestion des Populations, BP 2528 Bamako, Mali Received 8 September 2003; accepted 31 December 2004 Abstract Multimammate rats (genus Mastomys) are abundant in many regions throughout sub- Saharan Africa, and are of high economical and sanitary importance as agricultural pests as well as reservoir/vectors of human diseases. In pest management and in epidemiological studies, unequivocal species identification of individuals collected in the field is crucial. How- ever, the discrimination among most of the Mastomys species is often difficult, if not impossible, on the basis of external characters. Karyology provides unambiguous specific assignations, but is not suitable for population studies involving large numbers of individuals because it requires fresh material and/or quick transfer from the field to the laboratory. The purpose of this study was to search for molecular markers allowing a clear discrimination of * Corresponding author. Tel.: C33 1 99 62 33 01; fax: C33 1 99 62 33 45. E-mail address: cosson@ensam.inra.fr (J.-F. Cosson). 0305-1978/$ - see front matter Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.bse.2004.12.015 Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 33 (2005) 681e689 www.elsevier.com/locate/biochemsyseco