1. Introduction
Anderson’s White-bellied Rat, Niviventer andersoni belongs to genus Niviventer , family Muridae, and order Rodentia. N. andersoni is a species endemic to China, and has the largest body-size when compared with congeneric species of Niviventer [1]. They live in various kinds of forest in both lowlands and mountains [2]. Fossil records showed that this species extended to the low altitude regions of Southeast China during the late Quaternary in Chongqing and Guizhou Provinces, suggesting its potential to expand southward the climate turned colder [3,4].
Niviventer contains 17 recognized species, with another 65 are recognized as synonyms, occurring from the Himalayas and China to the Great Sunda Islands [5]. All Niviventer species are distinguished from other murid rodents by the long, slender, flat craniums and the tail-tip on tails [6]. They inhabit a variety of habitats ranging from damp forests to dry valleys. They are also among the most common infectious agents in humans [7]. According to previous studies (Musser, 1981), the Niviventer was separated into two primary divisions: the N. andersoni -Division and theN. niviventer -Division [8]. Phylogenetic trees based on mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene showed that N. andersoniand N. excelsior were clustered together and comprised theN. andersoni -Division [6]. Meanwhile, N. fulvescensand N. cremoriventer were initially clustered together, withN. confucianus as the next closest relative and formed the sister group of, N. niviventer -Division. However, single gene sequences are sometimes limited in their provision of useful data, since each gene evolves under different evolutionary pressures and time scales [9]. Compared to single mitochondrial gene sequences, complete mitochondrial genome sequences can provide improved resolution and sensitivity for investigations into the evolutionary relationships between closely related species [21,24].
Up to now, the complete mitogenomes of 4 species within the genusNiviventer were available in GenBank. Complete mitochondrial genomes have been used for taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses of diverse animal groups, due to its small size, maternal inheritance, low level of recombination and fast rate of evolution (particularly in rodents) [10-13]. The lack of genetic data has limited our understanding of the phylogeny of N. andersoni . In the present study, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of N. andersoni . The study has provided the features of the N. andersoni mitochondrial genome and has allowed us to compare its phylogenetic relationships with several other rat species. Our findings provide useful genetic data for phylogenetic comparisons to other rodent species with complete mitogenome information.