Phylogeography of the North American red fox: vicariance in Pleistocene forest refugia

Abstract

Fossil, archaeological, and morphometric data suggest that indigenous red foxes in North America were derived from vicariance in two disjunct refugia during the last glaciation: one in Beringia and one in the contiguous USA. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a phylogeographical analysis of the North American red fox within its presettlement range. We sequenced portions of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (354 bp) gene and D-loop (342 bp) from 220 historical red fox specimens. Phylogenetic analysis of the cytochrome b gene produced two clades that diverged c. 400,000 years before present (bp): a Holarctic and a Nearctic clade. D-loop analyses of the Nearctic clade indicated three distinct subclades (> or = 99% Bayesian posterior probability); two that were more recently derived (rho estimate c. 20,000 bp) and were restricted to the southwestern mountains and the eastern portion of North America, and one that was older (rho estimate c. 45,000 bp) and more widespread in North America. Populations that migrated north from the southern refugium following deglaciation were derived from the colonization of North America during or prior to the Illinoian glaciation (300,000-130,000 bp), whereas populations that migrated south from the northern refugium represent a more recent colonization event during the Wisconsin glaciation (100,000-10,000 bp). Our findings indicate that Nearctic clade red foxes are phylogenetically distinct from their Holarctic counterparts, and reflect long-term isolation in two disjunct forest refugia during the Pleistocene. The montane lineage, which includes endangered populations, may be ecologically and evolutionarily distinct.

When east meets west: population structure of a high-latitude resident species, the boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus)

“…Both mtDNA and microsatellite data show significant isolation-by-distance, and short distance (o40 km) dispersal is supported by banding records. Reduced dispersal is consistent with other non-migratory, resident species, including both birds (Burg et al, 2005;Graham and Burg, 2012;Lait et al, 2012) and mammals (Chappell et al, 2004;Aubry et al, 2009;Shafer et al, 2010a).…”

“…Although the majority of species thought to have persisted in Beringia are either restricted to the Northwest or Arctic regions (for example, Holder et al, 1999), evidence supports the use of this refugium by several widespread species, including the wolverine (Chappell et al, 2004) and red fox (Aubry et al, 2009), as well as black spruce and white spruce, two boreal trees upon which the boreal chickadee relies heavily (Jaramillo-Correa et al, 2004;Anderson et al, 2006;Gerardi et al, 2010).…”

Red foxes colonizing the tundra: genetic analysis as a tool for population management

“…For mitochondrial analysis, we amplified a cytochromeb (354 bp) fragment in the mitochondria in 102 individuals sampled throughout Sweden using primers RF14724 (5 0 -CAACTATAAGAACATTAATGACC-3 0 ) and RF15149 (5 0 -CTCAGAATGATATTTGTCCTC-3 0 ) (Perrine et al 2007;Aubry et al 2009) on a PTC100 Programmable Thermal Controller (MJ Research Inc.). Each PCR setup was accompanied by negative controls from the extraction as well as PCR blanks.…”

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

“…The Nearctic clade became isolated from the Holarctic clade nearly half a million years ago as a result of the progressive movement of glaciers, causing long-term isolation of the populations. In addition, within the Nearctic clade, a further three groups of red foxes are distinguished: western subclade, eastern subclade, and widespread subclade (Aubry et al, 2009). The eastern subclade includes insular populations of the Newfoundland red fox (Vulpes vulpes deletrix), which derived from disparate refugia isolated during the Wisconsinan glaciation (Aubry et al, 2009;Langille et al, 2014;Lounsberry et al, 2016).…”