A range-wide synthesis and timeline for phylogeographic events in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Abstract

BackgroundMany boreo-temperate mammals have a Pleistocene fossil record throughout Eurasia and North America, but only few have a contemporary distribution that spans this large area. Examples of Holarctic-distributed carnivores are the brown bear, grey wolf, and red fox, all three ecological generalists with large dispersal capacity and a high adaptive flexibility. While the two former have been examined extensively across their ranges, no phylogeographic study of the red fox has been conducted across its entire Holarctic range. Moreover, no study included samples from central Asia, leaving a large sampling gap in the middle of the Eurasian landmass.ResultsHere we provide the first mitochondrial DNA sequence data of red foxes from central Asia (Siberia), and new sequences from several European populations. In a range-wide synthesis of 729 red fox mitochondrial control region sequences, including 677 previously published and 52 newly obtained sequences, this manuscript describes the pattern and timing of major phylogeographic events in red foxes, using a Bayesian coalescence approach with multiple fossil tip and root calibration points. In a 335 bp alignment we found in total 175 unique haplotypes. All newly sequenced individuals belonged to the previously described Holarctic lineage. Our analyses confirmed the presence of three Nearctic- and two Japan-restricted lineages that were formed since the Mid/Late Pleistocene.ConclusionsThe phylogeographic history of red foxes is highly similar to that previously described for grey wolves and brown bears, indicating that climatic fluctuations and habitat changes since the Pleistocene had similar effects on these highly mobile generalist species. All three species originally diversified in Eurasia and later colonized North America and Japan. North American lineages persisted through the last glacial maximum south of the ice sheets, meeting more recent colonizers from Beringia during postglacial expansion into the northern Nearctic. Both brown bears and red foxes colonized Japan’s northern island Hokkaido at least three times, all lineages being most closely related to different mainland lineages. Red foxes, grey wolves, and brown bears thus represent an interesting case where species that occupy similar ecological niches also exhibit similar phylogeographic histories.

Variation in fur farm and wild populations of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes (Carnivora: Canidae) — Part I: Morphometry

“…The authors, using the 11 nuclear gene regions, estimated that both populations of the red fox split 209 000 years ago. Also, earlier conclusions drawn by Aubry et al (2009) and Kutschera et al (2013) support the above findings. Thus, it can be stated that red foxes from North America have evolved into a genetically distinct population.…”

“…The latest phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies (Aubry et al 2009;Statham et al 2011;Kutschera et al 2013;Statham et al 2014) indicate that the European population of wild red foxes and farm-bred red foxes originated from different founder populations. This implies that morphological differences between individuals belonging to both populations may have been caused by different evolutionary histories.…”

High genetic distinctiveness of wild and farm fox (Vulpes vulpes L.)populations in Poland: evidence from mitochondrial DNA analysis

“…This is also in contradiction with the research by Kutschera et al (2013). The authors, conducting phylogeographic research on wild common foxes from various continents, included individuals living in Polish territory.…”

“…This indicates a similar variation in the control region of mtDNA in Polish foxes in comparison with the concatenated MT-ATP6 and MT-CO1 sequences, based upon which the 11 haplotypes were identified in our own study. However, Kutschera et al (2013) did not identify haplotypes shared with North American populations within newly described Polish samples.…”

Phylogenetic Pattern, Evolutionary Processes and Species Delimitation in the Genus Echinococcus

“…Nakao et al (2010b) found low levels of mtDNA diversity in E. multilocularis in the Tibetan Plateau and suggested that the species was introduced to this region by a recent range extension of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), although this hypothesis requires confirmation because there does not seem to be independent evidence of such a range extension (Kutschera et al, 2013). However, relatively high levels of mtDNA diversity have been found for E. shiquicus in the Tibetan Plateau (Nakao et al 2010b) and E. vogeli in Brazil (Santos et al 2012).…”