Phylogeny of the jacchus group of Callithrix marmosets based on complete mitochondrial genomes

Abstract

Callithrix nuclear and mtDNA phylogenies frequently result in polytomies and paraphyly. Here, we present a well-supported phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial genome sequences, which facilitates the understanding of the divergence of the jacchus marmosets. Our results demonstrate how mitochondrial genomes can enrich Callithrix phylogenetic studies by alleviating some of the difficulties faced by previous mtDNA studies and allow formulation of hypotheses to test further under larger genomic-scale analyses.

Climate change is likely to affect the distribution but not parapatry of the Brazilian marmoset monkeys (Callithrixspp.)

“…Because most of Callithrix species do not have equivalent or more similar than expected climatic niches, we can assume that they have a certain degree of niche differentiation, leading to partially or nonoverlapping climatic requirements. Given the recent diversification of this taxa (Malukiewicz et al, ; Perelman et al, ; Schneider et al, ) and the current hypothesis that Callithrix diversification arose predominantly from the isolation of ancestral forms (Kinzey, ; Marroig, Cropp, & Cheverud, ), our results suggest a rapid climatic niche differentiation after species’ isolation. Niche similarities tests, however, can underestimate climatic niches (and consequently the overlap between them) because they are based on the current occupied distribution of organisms, which is potentially reduced by biotic factors and dispersal limitations.…”

“…Additionally, Because most of Callithrix species do not have equivalent or more similar than expected climatic niches, we can assume that they have a certain degree of niche differentiation, leading to partially or nonoverlapping climatic requirements. Given the recent diversification of this taxa (Malukiewicz et al, 2017;Perelman et al, 2011;Schneider et al, 2012) and the current hypothesis that Callithrix diversification arose predominantly from the isolation of ancestral forms (Kinzey, 1982;Marroig, Cropp, & Cheverud, 2004), our results suggest a rapid climatic niche differentiation after species' isolation.…”

“…Recently, however, Callithrix penicillata and, particularly, C. jacchus have become invasive in south and south-eastern Brazil thanks to intentional or accidental human introduction (Begotti & Landesmann, 2008;Cerqueira, Marroig, & Finder, 1998;Modesto & Bergallo, 2008). Although rivers may not constitute effective barriers to the dispersal of Callithrix species (Rylands, Fonseca, Leite, & Mittermeier, 1996), some species have part of their distribution limited by rivers, such as the São Francisco river for Callithrix jacchus and C. penicillata (Malukiewicz, Hepp, Guschanski, & Stone, 2017), the Jequitinhonha river for C. geoffroyi and C. kuhlii, and the Contas river for C. kuhlii Figure 1).…”

The Gut Microbiome of Exudivorous Marmosets in the Wild and Captivity

“…Our results revealed that in marmosets as other animals, both host environment and taxonomy shape the gut microbiome [60][61][62][63]. However, host environment in this study showed stronger influence on marmoset GMC than host taxonomy, perhaps due to how closely related Callithrix species are as a recent primate radiation [64,65]. As host environment had the strongest effect on marmoset GMC within our study, the below discussion focuses largely on this factor.…”

Hybridization in human evolution: Insights from other organisms

“…South American Callithrix marmosets (Figure ) also demonstrate extensive hybridization between subspecies and species, in variable environments and with different levels of reproductive isolation, therefore making them an additional comparative primate model for considering hominin hybridization. Speciation of current Callithrix marmosets began approximately 3.7 Ma, with the most recent divergence event taking place less than 1 Ma between C. jacchus and C. penicillata . Experimental interspecific crosses revealed different levels of reproductive isolation between different species pairs, as captive C. jacchus × C. penicillata hybridized with relative ease, but physical anomalies such as blindness were common when other species pairs were crossed .…”