Molecular systematics and biogeography of the Neotropical monkey genus, Alouatta
We take advantage of the broad distribution of howler monkeys from Mexico to Argentina to provide a historical biogeographical analysis on a regional scale that encompasses the entire Neotropics. The phylogenetic relationships among 9 of the 10 recognized Alouatta species were inferred using three m...
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Published in | Molecular phylogenetics and evolution Vol. 26; no. 1; pp. 64 - 81 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Elsevier Inc
2003
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We take advantage of the broad distribution of howler monkeys from Mexico to Argentina to provide a historical biogeographical analysis on a regional scale that encompasses the entire Neotropics. The phylogenetic relationships among 9 of the 10 recognized
Alouatta species were inferred using three mitochondrial and two nuclear genes. The nuclear gene regions provided no phylogenetic resolution among howler monkey species, and were characterized by very low levels of sequence divergence between
Alouatta and the
Ateles outgroup. The mtDNA genes, on the other hand, produced a well-resolved phylogeny, which indicated that the earliest split among howler monkeys separated
cis- and
trans-Andean clades. Eight monophyletic mtDNA haplotype clades were identified, representing six named species in South America, including
Alouatta seniculus,
Alouatta sara,
Alouatta macconelli,
Alouatta caraya,
Alouatta belzebul, and
Alouatta guariba, and two in Mesoamerica,
Alouatta pigra and
Alouatta palliata. Molecular clock-based estimates of branching times indicated that contemporary howler monkey species originated in the late Miocene and Pliocene, not the Pleistocene. The causes of
Alouatta diversification were more difficult to pin down, although we posit that the initial
cis-,
trans-Andean split in the genus was caused by the late Miocene completion of the northern Andes. Riverine barriers to dispersal and putative forest refuges can neither be discounted nor distinguished as causes of speciation in many cases, and one, the other or both have likely played a role in the diversification of South American howler monkeys. Finally, we estimated the separation of Mesoamerican
A. pigra and
A. palliata at 3
Ma, which corresponds to the completion date of the Panama Isthmus promoting a role for this earth history event in the speciation of Central American howler monkeys. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 1055-7903 1095-9513 |
DOI: | 10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00308-1 |