Which mountain systems are suggested to have acted as a crucible for the initial divergence of the *N. fuscipes/macrotis* and *N. bryanti/lepida* clades?
Answer
The Transverse Range and Tehachapi Mountains
The complex topography of western North America played a decisive role in shaping woodrat evolution. Geologic activity in the region of the Transverse Range and the Tehachapi Mountains is hypothesized to have been the location where the ancestors of the two main clade groups—the *N. fuscipes/N. macrotis* group and the *N. bryanti/N. lepida* group—first diverged. Fluctuating Pliocene climates likely induced distributional shifts that cemented this foundational separation within these geologically active ranges.
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