Phylogeographic Patterns in Africa and High Resolution Delineation of Genetic Clades in the Lion (Panthera leo)

Abstract

Comparative phylogeography of African savannah mammals shows a congruent pattern in which populations in West/Central Africa are distinct from populations in East/Southern Africa. However, for the lion, all African populations are currently classified as a single subspecies (Panthera leo leo), while the only remaining population in Asia is considered to be distinct (Panthera leo persica). This distinction is disputed both by morphological and genetic data. In this study we introduce the lion as a model for African phylogeography. Analyses of mtDNA sequences reveal six supported clades and a strongly supported ancestral dichotomy with northern populations (West Africa, Central Africa, North Africa/Asia) on one branch, and southern populations (North East Africa, East/Southern Africa and South West Africa) on the other. We review taxonomies and phylogenies of other large savannah mammals, illustrating that similar clades are found in other species. The described phylogeographic pattern is considered in relation to large scale environmental changes in Africa over the past 300,000 years, attributable to climate. Refugial areas, predicted by climate envelope models, further confirm the observed pattern. We support the revision of current lion taxonomy, as recognition of a northern and a southern subspecies is more parsimonious with the evolutionary history of the lion.

Viruses as indicators of contemporary host dispersal and phylogeography: an example of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIVPle) in free‐ranging African lion (Panthera leo)

“…Bertola et al . ()). Although microsatellites differentiate lion assemblages at the continental scale, no intraregional substructure could be observed at smaller geographic scales (Antunes et al ., ).…”

“…()). Lions are geographically structured throughout Africa (Barnett et al ., ; Bertola et al ., ), but the resolution at the mtDNA level is not sufficient to show fine‐scale intraregional differentiation (e.g. east and southern African lions share a single common dominant mtDNA haplotype; cf .…”

Gigantic lion, Panthera leo, from the Pleistocene of Natodomeri, eastern Africa

“…Phylogeographic studies of extant lion (Barnett et al, 2014;Bertola et al, 2016) indicate that extant lion haplotypes diversified 120.2-384.8 ka, which brackets the date for the Natodomeri lion. If the mean divergence estimate of 244.8 ka is correct (Bertola et al, 2016: fig. 3), the Natodomeri lion could hypothetically represent a haplotype that was sister taxon to all extant lion haplotypes.…”

“…3), the Natodomeri lion could hypothetically represent a haplotype that was sister taxon to all extant lion haplotypes. Interestingly, Natodomeri lies in the overlap between the two major haplogroups ('north' and 'south') of Bertola et al (2016). Therefore, alternative but somewhat less likely hypotheses are that the Natodomeri lion was sister taxon to all extant lions within either the 'south' group of Bertola et al (2016), the diversification of which is dated to 90.3-300.6 ka (mean: 189.2 ka) or the 'north' group, dated to 71.6-239.7 ka (mean: 147.6 ka).…”

“…In the scientific world lions are also a focus for attention (Schaller, 1972;Packer, 2015), and although not at present seriously threatened, except in India, lions are nevertheless of some conservation concern due to population declines in recent decades (Bauer et al, 2015). Yamaguchi et al (2004) reviewed the broad-scale evolution of lions and Barnett et al (2014) and Bertola et al (2016) have discussed their recent population history. These publications have shown that lions originated in Africa and, apart from the small relict population in western India, they are confined to that continent in the present day.…”