Phylogeography and spatial structure of the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris, Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) in South America

Abstract

We sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 141 lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) – representing the largest geographical distribution sample of this species studied across of South America to date. We compare our new data regard to two previous works on population structure and molecular systematics of T. terrestris. Our data agree with the Thoisy et al.’s work in (1) the Northern Western Amazon basin was the area with the highest gene diversity levels in T. terrestris, being probably the area of initial diversification; (2) there was no clear association between haplogroups and specific geographical areas; (3) there were clear population decreases during the last glacial maximum for the different haplogroups detected, followed by population expansions during the Holocene; and (4) our temporal splits among different T. terrestris haplogroups coincided with the first molecular clock approach carried out by these authors (fossil calibration). Nevertheless, our study disagreed regard to other aspects of the Thoisy et al.’s claims: (1) meanwhile, they detected four relevant clades in their data, we put forward six different relevant clades; (2) the Amazon River was not a strong barrier for haplotype dispersion in T. terrestris; and (3) we found reciprocal monophyly between T. terrestris and T. pinchaque. Additionally, we sequenced 42 individuals (T. terrestris, T. pinchaque, T. bairdii, and the alleged “new species”, T. kabomani) for three concatenated mitochondrial genes (Cyt-b, COI, and COII) agreeing quite well with the view of Voss et al., and against of the claims of Cozzuol et al. Tapirus kabomani should be not considered as a full species with the results obtained throughout the mitochondrial sequences.

• Mitochondrial haplogroups
• pleistocene diversification
• population expansions
• phylogeography
• spatial autocorrelation
• Tapirus terrestris
• T. kabomani

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Diana Alvarez, Pablo Escobar-Armel, and Luisa Fernanda Castellanos-Mora for their respective help in obtaining Tapirus terrestris samples during the last 18 years. The authors also thank Dr. Benoit de Thoisy for French Guyana tapir DNA samples. Many thanks go to the Peruvian Ministry of Environment, to the PRODUCE (Dirección Nacional de Extracción y Procesamiento Pesquero from Peru), Consejo Nacional del Ambiente and the Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales (INRENA), to the Colección Boliviana de Fauna and CITES Bolivia (Dr. Julieta Vargas) and to the Environment Ministry at Coca (Ecuador) for their role in facilitating the obtainment of the collection permits in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. The first author also acknowledges and thanks the Ticuna, Yucuna, Yaguas, Witoto and Cocama Indian communities in the Colombian Amazon, Bora, Ocaina, Shipibo-Comibo, Capanahua, Angoteros, Orejón, Yaguas, Cocama, Kishuarana and Alama in the Peruvian Amazon, to the Sirionó, Canichana, Cayubaba and Chacobo in the Bolivian Amazon and Marubos, Matis, Mayoruna, Kanaimari, Kulina, Maku, and Waimiri-Atroari communities in the Brazilian Amazon for helping to obtain T. terrestris samples. Finally, thanks to Humberto Ossa for providing genTaq polimerase (INVIMA 2011RD-0002114) produced in his laboratory.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.