Disparate phylogeographic patterns of molecular genetic variation in four closely related South American small cat species

Abstract

Tissue specimens from four species of Neotropical small cats (Oncifelis geoffroyi, N = 38; O. guigna, N = 6; Leopardus tigrinus, N = 32; Lynchailurus colocolo, N = 22) collected from throughout their distribution were examined for patterns of DNA sequence variation using three mitochondrial genes, 16S rRNA, ATP8, and NADH-5. Patterns between and among O. guigna and O. geoffroyi individuals were assessed further from size variation at 20 microsatellite loci. Phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial DNA sequences revealed monophyletic clustering of the four species, plus evidence of natural hybridization between L. tigrinus and L. colocolo in areas of range overlap and discrete population subdivisions reflecting geographical isolation. Several commonly accepted subspecies partitions were affirmed for L. colocolo, but not for O. geoffroyi. The lack of geographical substructure in O. geoffroyi was recapitulated with the microsatellite data, as was the monophyletic clustering of O. guigna and O. geoffroyi individuals. L. tigrinus forms two phylogeographic clusters which correspond to L.t. oncilla (from Costa Rica) and L.t. guttula (from Brazil) and which have mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetic distance estimates comparable to interspecific values between other ocelot lineage species. Using feline-specific calibration rates for mitochondrial DNA mutation rates, we estimated that extant lineages of O. guigna diverged 0.4 million years ago (Ma), compared with 1.7 Ma for L. colocolo, 2.0 Ma for O. geoffroyi, and 3.7 Ma for L. tigrinus.

Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae)

“…S8) showed large mitochondrial and nuclear divergence (11.0%-15.3% and 0.5%-0.6%, respectively) from Brazilian tigrinas, as well as from the Geoffroy's cat and kodkod (L. guigna). Tigrinas have not been extensively sampled for genetic variation across the northern part of their range; however, our data support previous observations based solely on mtDNA (Johnson et al 1999;Trigo et al 2008) of the potential existence of an additional, presently unrecognized Central American cat species.…”

Taxonomic revision of the tigrina Leopardus tigrinus (Schreber, 1775) species group (Carnivora, Felidae)

“…On the other side, Johnson et al (1999), based in mitochondrial genes, found two highly divergent clades of tigrina group, one from Central America (= our morphogroup I) and other from southern Brazil (= our morphogroup III), which is comparable to the differences observed between L. geoffroyi and L. guigna, and between Leopardus pardalis and L. wiedii (Johnson et al 1999).…”

“…Therefore, taking into account the morphological (external and cranial) argument, in combination with a distinct geographic pattern and the available genetic evidence (Johnson et al, 1999;Trigo et al, 2013), we hypothesized that each of our morphogroups are three distinct species and propose a new taxonomic arrangement. (Schreber, 1775 Morphogroup III: Leopardus guttulus (Hensel, 1872) -this taxon was traditionally recognized as a subspecies of L. tigrinus, but our results suggest that it is a full species, in accordance with Nascimento (2010) and Trigo et al (2013).…”

“…2, 4 and 8), Gardner recognized the Central American population as distinct from the northern South American population (= O. t. pardinoides). According to the molecular data, the Central American population of tigrinas is highly genetically divergent from the southern South American tigrina, a divergence higher than that between L. pardalis and L. wiedii and O. geoffroyi and O. guigna (Johnson et al, 1999). However, samples from other populations, mainly from northwestern South America (for example, from Colombia and Venezuela), were not included in the molecular study.…”

“…Molecular data, based on mtDNA, suggested the existence of two highly divergent phylogeographical groups, one from southern Brazil and the other from Central America, which have a long period of isolation (around 3.7 million of years ago) (Johnson et al 1999), and this divergence is comparable to the differences observed between Geoffroy's cat Leopardus geoffroyi (d'Orbigny & Gervais, 1844) and guigna Leopardus guigna (Molina, 1782) or between ocelot Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758) and margay L. wiedii (Schinz, 1821) (Johnson et al 1999). Furthermore, Leyhausen & Falkena (1966) previously found that certain subspecies of L. tigrinus did not mate with each other in captivity, which led them to suggest that this taxon could consist of two or more distinct species.…”