Ecology Driving Genetic Variation: A Comparative Phylogeography of Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) and Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in India

Abstract

BackgroundComparative phylogeography links historical population processes to current/ecological processes through congruent/incongruent patterns of genetic variation among species/lineages. Despite high biodiversity, India lacks a phylogeographic paradigm due to limited comparative studies. We compared the phylogenetic patterns of Indian populations of jungle cat (Felis chaus) and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). Given similarities in their distribution within India, evolutionary histories, body size and habits, congruent patterns of genetic variation were expected.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe collected scats from various biogeographic zones in India and analyzed mtDNA from 55 jungle cats (460 bp NADH5, 141 bp cytochrome b) and 40 leopard cats (362 bp NADH5, 202 bp cytochrome b). Jungle cats revealed high genetic variation, relatively low population structure and demographic expansion around the mid-Pleistocene. In contrast, leopard cats revealed lower genetic variation and high population structure with a F ST of 0.86 between North and South Indian populations. Niche-model analyses using two approaches (BIOCLIM and MaxEnt) support absence of leopard cats from Central India, indicating a climate associated barrier. We hypothesize that high summer temperatures limit leopard cat distribution and that a rise in temperature in the peninsular region of India during the LGM caused the split in leopard cat population in India.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results indicate that ecological variables describing a species range can predict genetic patterns. Our study has also resolved the confusion over the distribution of the leopard cat in India. The reciprocally monophyletic island population in the South mandates conservation attention.

Ecology and Evolution of Melanism in Big Cats: Case Study with Black Leopards and Jaguars

“…To elucidate biological issues related to melanism in natural populations and assess the relevance of different adaptive phenotypes, it is necessary to consider the relative importance of genetic drift and natural selection on the dynamics of different phenotypes in distinct landscapes [33,52]. A selectively neutral phenotype should show a random pattern of variation among populations, while nonrandom patterns suggest the occurrence of selection (if populations are demographically connected).…”

“…In the case of a stable polymorphism (such as melanism), an important issue to be considered is the phenotype frequency across different landscapes [53] because in some cases ecological variables describing a species range can predict genetic patterns [33]. That is the exactly pattern observed in leopards and jaguars, where the frequency is almost the same for both species in natural populations, and the geographic distribution is nonrandom in the two cases.…”

“…Since correlation among explanatory predictors can lead to model overfitting, we computed Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) between each pair of variables [31][32][33]. The correlation was assessed by extracting predictor information from 10,000 unique and randomly generated points within the present geographic distribution layer of both species (obtained from IUCN and complemented with our own database records).…”

Mapping black panthers: Macroecological modeling of melanism in leopards (Panthera pardus)

“…To avoid problems of model overfitting caused by correlation among explanatory variables, we ran Pearson's correlation coefficient test ( r ) for each pair of variables [39–41]. We assessed this correlation by extracting variable information from 10,000 unique and randomly generated points sampled from the currently known geographic distribution of leopards (obtained from IUCN and complemented by our own records) using ArcGis 9.3.…”

Molecular Markers and Genetic Diversity in Neotropical Felids

“…Several other species of felines have been recently studied based on mitochondrial genes as markers to assess different aspects in these animals, besides those already mentioned (e.g., population structure, evolutionary history, hybridization rates and introgression): Panthera leo ssp (Barnett et al, 2009), Acinonyx jubatus (Charrau et al, 2011), Prionailurus bengalensis and Felis chaus (Mukherjee et al, 2010), Felis silvestris (Hertwig et al, 2009;Eckert et al, 2010), Neofelis diardi (Wilting et al, 2011), among others. Trigo et al, (2008) employed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences and nine microsatellite loci to identify and characterize a hybrid zone between two Neotropical felids, Leopardus geoffroyi and L. tigrinus, both of which are well-established species having diverged from each other c. 1 million years ago.…”