The population genetic structure of the forest-dependent rodent,

Praomys taitae, sampled from nine indigenous forest fragments

sampled from nine indigenous forest fragments

distributed over three ranges of the Taita Hills in Kenya, was determined

using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence

variation. Thirty-three unique haplotypes were observed in a total

sample of 132 individuals, whereas the number of different haplotypes

per population ranged from two to 10. An overall low nucleotide

diversity of 0.9% was observed in the total sample but varied widely

between populations (0.2-1.3%). Significant genetic differentiation

was observed in 30 of the 36 possible pair-wise comparisons

between populations, while a hierarchical AMOVA revealed significant

genetic subdivision between groups of populations on the

three hill ranges of Dabida, Mbololo and Kyulu (FCT = 0.404, P <

0.01), among populations on each of the hill ranges (FSC = 0.112,

P < 0.01) and among populations in the total sample (FST = 0.471,

< 0.01) and among populations in the total sample (ST = 0.471,

P < 0.001). Demographic history analyses based on pair-wise

< 0.001). Demographic history analyses based on pair-wise

nucleotide sequence mismatch distributions revealed that all the

populations were in mutation-drift disequilibrium except the populations

of the Kyulu and Ronge forest fragments.