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Nucleotide sequences from the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome-b gene were used to infer phylogenetic relationships and estimate genetic distances from 10 individuals of Melanomys caliginosus and to explore the hypothesis that this taxon is comprised of multiple species. Individuals of four geographic populations of M. caliginosus from Central America (Nicaragua and Costa Rica), Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador, respectively, were included in this analysis. Topologies obtained from maximum parsimony and Bayesian inference analyses were identical and produced clades referable to each of the geographic populations. Genetic distances between any pair-wise comparisons of the four groups (except between Panamanian and Venezuelan samples) were comparable to values estimated from comparisons of sister species in the closely related genus Nectomys. Distances between samples from Panama and …