Quaternary climate change and social behavior shaped the genetic differentiation of an endangered montane primate from the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Multiple factors, including climate change, dispersal barriers, and social behavior influence the genetic structure of natural populations. While the effects of extrinsic factors such as historical climatic change and habitat topography have been well studied, mostly in temperate habitats, the simultaneous effects of intrinsic factors such as social behavior on genetic structure have rarely been explored. Such simultaneous effect, however, may particularly be common in social mammals such as many primates. Consequently, we studied the population structure of a rare and endangered social primate, the Arunachal macaque Macaca munzala, endemic to the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, located on the subtropical southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and forming part of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. We studied a 534 bp-long mitochondrial DNA sequence and 22 autosomal microsatellite loci in individuals from three populations, Tawang, Upper Subansiri, and West Siang. The mtDNA data revealed three major divergence events: that between the Arunachal and bonnet macaques (ca. 1.61 mya), the founding of the West Siang population and the ancestral population of the present-day bonnet macaques (ca. 1.32 mya), and the divergence between the Tawang and Upper Subansiri populations (ca. 0.80 mya) that coincided with the major glacial events in the region. Comparing mitochondrial DNA with autosomal microsatellites, we also found evidence for female philopatry and male-driven long-distance gene flow. Arunachal macaques thus appear to be characterized by groups of philopatric females separated by geographical barriers and harsh climate but with dispersing males exerting a homogenizing effect on the nuclear gene pool. Given that severe population differentiation is of major concern in species conservation, we suggest that our study populations represent significant conservation units of this rare, endangered primate but, more importantly, emphasize the complex interplay of extrinsic and intrinsic factors in shaping the population structure of a social mammalian species.

Fine‐scale genetic structure analyses reveal dispersal patterns in a critically endangered primate, Trachypithecus leucocephalus

“…Dispersal, whereby an organism moves away from its original group or birth site, is one of the principal factors underlying population genetic structure, mating systems, and kinship‐based behaviors in social animals (Chakraborty, Ramakrishnan, & Sinha, ; Di Fiore, ; Ross, ; Sugg, ). Therefore, studies of dispersal patterns provide important insight into population dynamics, social organization, and reproductive tactics (Kopp, Fischer, Patzelt, Roos, & Zinner, ; Tanaka et al, ; Wikberg et al, ).…”

Population structuring of the ubiquitous stingless bee Tetragonisca angustula in southern Brazil as revealed by microsatellite and mitochondrial markers

“…The characteristics of subpopulations contribute to overall population structure. Studies of population genetic structure typically combine analysis of mitochondrial and microsatellite polymorphisms (e.g., Daly-Engel et al, 2012;Chakraborty et al, 2015;Lopes et al, 2015;McLeod et al, 2015). Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has a high mutation rate and is maternally inherited.…”

Highly Versatile, Non-Invasive Method for Collecting Buccal DNA from Free-Ranging Non-Human Primates

“…Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), for example, is generally used for investigating maternal relationships and phylogeography (Liedigk et al, 2015), whereas Ychromosome genes of mammals are used to investigate paternal relationships and male dispersal (Tosi et al, 2000;Tosi et al, 2002). Meanwhile, autosomal markers, such as microsatellite and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, are often used to investigate population genetics and genomic diversity (Chakraborty et al, 2015;Svardal et al, 2017).…”