Mitogenomic phylogeny of the asian colobine genus trachypithecus with special focus on trachypithecus phayrei (Blyth, 1847) and description of a new species

• Authors: Christian Roos, Deutsches Primatenzentrum; Kristofer M. Helgen, Australian Museum; Roberto Portela Miguez, Natural History Museum London; Naw May Lay Thant, Wildlife Conservation Society; Ngwe Lwin, Fauna & Flora International; Aung Ko Lin, Fauna & Flora International; Aung Lin, Fauna & Flora International; Khin Mar Yi, Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division; Paing Soe, World Wide Fund for Nature; Xin Mar Hein, World Wide Fund for Nature; Margaret Nyein Nyein Myint, World Wide Fund for Nature; Tanvir Ahmed, Jagannath University; Dilip Chetry, Herpetofauna Research and Conservation Division; Melina Urh, Deutsches Primatenzentrum; Elizabeth Grace Veatch, Emory University; Neil Duncan, American Museum of Natural History; Pepijn Kamminga, Naturalis Biodiversity Center; Marcus A. H. Chua, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum; Lu Yao, American Museum of Natural History; Christian Matauschek, Chances for Nature (CfN); Dirk Meyer, Chances for Nature (CfN); Zhi-Jin Liu, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Ming Li, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Tilo Nadler, Cuc Phuong Commune; Peng-Fei Fan, Sun Yat-Sen University; Le Khac Quyet, Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species; Michael Hofreiter, Universität Potsdam; Dietmar Zinner, Deutsches Primatenzentrum; Frank Momberg, Fauna & Flora International
• Journal Title: Zoological Research
• Volume: Volume 41, Number 6
• Publisher: Zoores | 2020-11-01, Pages 656-669
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.24272/J.ISSN.2095-8137.2020.254
• Subjects: Biology, Animal Physiology; Biology, Zoology
• Keywords: Colobinae; Integrative zoology; Mitochondrial genome; Museum specimens; New species; Animal Distribution; Animals; Asia, Southeastern; Genome, Mitochondrial; Phylogeny; Presbytini; Species Specificity

Abstract

Trachypithecus, which currently contains 20 species divided into four groups, is the most speciose and geographically dispersed genus among Asian colobines. Despite several morphological and molecular studies, however, its evolutionary history and phylogeography remain poorly understood. Phayre's langur (Trachypithecus phayrei) is one of the most widespread members of the genus, but details on its actual distribution and intraspecific taxonomy are limited and controversial. Thus, to elucidate the evolutionary history of Trachypithecus and to clarify the intraspecific taxonomy and distribution of T. phayrei, we sequenced 41 mitochondrial genomes from georeferenced fecal samples and museum specimens, including two holotypes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a robustly supported phylogeny of Trachypithecus, suggesting that the T. pileatus group branched first, followed by the T. francoisi group, and the T. cristatus and T. obscurus groups most recently. The four species groups diverged from each other 4.5-3.1 million years ago (Ma), while speciation events within these groups occurred much more recently (1.6-0.3 Ma). Within T. phayrei, we found three clades that diverged 1.0-0.9 Ma, indicating the existence of three rather than two taxa. Following the phylogenetic species concept and based on genetic, morphological, and ecological differences, we elevate the T. phayrei subspecies to species level, describe a new species from central Myanmar, and refine the distribution of the three taxa. Overall, our study highlights the importance of museum specimens and provides new insights not only into the evolutionary history of T. phayrei but the entire Trachypithecus genus as well.