Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation and phylogeography of Neotropic pumas (Puma concolor)

Abstract

Pumas occupy the largest latitudinal range of any New World terrestrial mammal. Human population growth and associated habitat reduction has reduced their North American range by nearly two-thirds, but the impact of human expansion in Central and South America on puma populations is not clear. We examined mitochondrial DNA diversity of pumas across the majority of their range, with a focus on Central and South America. Four mitochondrial gene regions (1140 base pairs) revealed 16 unique haplotypes differentiating pumas into three geographic groupings: North America, Central America and South America. These groups were highly differentiated as indicated by significant pairwise F_ST values. North American samples were genetically homogenous compared to Central and South American samples, and South American pumas were the most diverse and ancestral. These findings support an earlier hypothesis that North America was recolonized by founding pumas from Central and South America.

• Mitochondrial DNA
• nucleotide diversity
• Puma concolor
• population genetics

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Simone Chaves, Kimberly Merani, Ashley Yang, Ellen Trimarco, Scott Neabore, Rachel Engstrand and Rebecca Hersch for their assistance. We would also like to thank all involved in scat collection: Carlos De Angelo and Agustin Paviolo (Argentina); Bart Harmsen, Rebecca Foster and Omar Antonio Figueroa (Belize); Leonardo Maffei (Bolivia); Carly Vynne and Anne-Sophie Bertrand (Brazil); Sofia Soto Fournier and Gustavo Gutiérrez Espletta (Costa Rica); Roan Balas McNab, José Moreira, Rony Garcia and Jose Soto (Guatemala); Franklin Castañeda (Honduras); Joseph Figel, Claudia Cinta and Octavio Cesar Rosas Rosas (Mexico); Marianela Velilla Fernandez (Paraguay); Samia Carrillo-Percastegui and Renata Leite Pitman (Peru); Dr. Hugh Robinson (Washington); and Dr. Howard Quigley and the Teton Cougar Project (Wyoming). Museum specimens were provided by the Department of Mammalogy of the American Museum of Natural History. Funding and resources were provided by the Global Felid Genetics program of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics and Sigma Xi Grants-In-Aid of Research.