Phylogeography of the smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata): distinct evolutionary lineages and hybridization with the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Abstract

We investigated the phylogeography of the smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) to determine its spatial genetic structure for aiding an adaptive conservation management of the species. Fifty-eight modern and 11 archival (dated 1882–1970) otters sampled from Iraq to Malaysian Borneo were genotyped (mtDNA Cytochrome-b, 10 microsatellite DNA loci). Moreover, 16 Aonyx cinereus (Asian small-clawed otter) and seven Lutra lutra (Eurasian otter) were sequenced to increase information available for phylogenetic reconstructions. As reported in previous studies, we found that L. perspicillata, A. cinereus and A. capensis (African clawless otter) grouped in a clade sister to the genus Lutra, with L. perspicillata and A. cinereus being reciprocally monophyletic. Within L. perspicillata, we uncovered three Evolutionarily Significant Units and proved that L. p. maxwelli is not only endemic to Iraq but also the most recent subspecies. We suggest a revision of the distribution range limits of easternmost L. perspicillata subspecies. We show that smooth-coated otters in Singapore are L. perspicillata x A. cinereus hybrids with A. cinereus mtDNA, the first reported case of hybridization in the wild among otters. This result also provides evidence supporting the inclusion of L. perspicillata and A. cinereus in the genus Amblonyx, thus avoiding the paraphyly of the genus Aonyx.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequencing of Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) (Carnivora: Mustelidae) and its phylogenetic status in Mustelidae

“…The Asian small-clawed otter, Aonyx cinerea, was grouped with the smooth-coated otter, Lutrigale perspicillata, rather than the Asian clawless otter, Aonyx capenis. Although the previous studies reported that the Mustelinae is the closest subfamily of the Lutrinae (Moretti et al 2017), these results show that the Ictonychinae and Lutrinae were unresolved in a clade separate from the Mustelinae, Helictidinae, and Guloinae. These results based on mitochondrial genomic markers generally coincided with the previous studies (Koepfli et al 2008;Law et al 2018).…”

A forgotten rodent from the Garden of Eden: what really happened to the long-tailed nesokia rat in the Mesopotamian marshes?

“…Attempts initiated in 2003 towards restoration of the original habitat reversed the shrinking trend and marshes started to expand at the rate of 800 km 2 per year (Al-Ansari et al 2012). While the smooth-coated otter, along with the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) escaped extinction (Al-Sheikhly et al 2017;Moretti et al 2017) the fate of the long-tailed nesokia rat is more perplexing. The animal was last seen in 1976, i.e.…”

Early Pleistocene Caniformia from Palan-Tyukan (Azerbaijan)

“…The phylogenetic reconstructions of Lg. perspicillata show that the above monophyletic clade already existed in the initial phase of the Early Pleis-tocene (Koepfli et al 2008;Moretti et al 2017). The species Le.…”