TY - JOUR
T1 - Revisiting the phylogenetic relationships, biogeography, and taxonomy of spider monkeys (genus Ateles) in light of new molecular data
AU - Morales-Jimenez, Alba Lucia
AU - Disotell, Todd
AU - Di Fiore, Anthony
N1 - Funding Information:
This project would not have been possible without the collaboration of many people and institutions around the world that provided samples, advice, and support. Special thanks are due to Mr. and Mrs. Louwman, J. Vermeer, C. Roos, N. Rowe, G. Berguido, G. Ponze Santino, L. Córtes-Ortiz, N. Gibson, F. Aureli, L. Pozzi, J. Hodgson, C. Bergey, A. Burrell, K. Morales, G. de Leon & family, F. Catzeflis, P. Mendez, D. Tirira, P. Moscoso, Q. Fuenmayor, S. Hagell, N. Ting, A. Link, K. Chiou, J. Gladman, Tikal National Park (Guatemala), Departamento de Investigaciones Biológicas de WCS Programa Guatemala, Parque Chagres (Panama), Parque Portobelo (Panama), Reserva Chucanti (Panama), Wassenaar Breeding Center (Netherlands), and the Montpellier University (France) animal tissue collection. We also are very grateful to Stephen Nash, who generously provided the artwork for this paper, and to Jessica Lynch Alfaro and several anonymous reviewers whose comments helped improve this manuscript. Part of this work was carried out by using the resources of the Computational Biology Service Unit from Cornell University, which is partially funded by Microsoft Corporation, as well as the Cipres Science Gateway. We are also grateful to the organizations that provided critical funding: Primate Conservation, Inc. , the National Science Foundation of the United States of America (Award Number BCS 0851655), the University of Texas at Austin , New York University , and the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - Spider monkeys (Ateles) are one of the most endangered groups of primates in the Neotropics. The genus is widely distributed from Mexico to the north of Bolivia and includes many morphologically distinct forms in terms of pelage color and patterning. The taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeographic history of the genus have been subject to much debate, making scientific communication difficult and creating challenges for conservation actions. We extracted DNA from samples of all currently recognized species of spider monkeys collected from across the geographic range of the genus, sequenced ~3.5. kilobases of coding sequence from the mitochondrial genome, and used this large dataset to (a) infer the phylogenetic relationships among the different forms of spider monkeys, (b) evaluate whether currently recognized species of spider monkeys form reciprocally monophyletic groups that are concordant with contemporary classifications, and (c) estimate divergence dates among the different lineages of Ateles. We found that all proposed species of spider monkeys for which we have samples from multiple localities indeed appear to form monophyletic groups. However, in contrast to previous studies, several of our analyses robustly inferred Ateles marginatus from northeast Brazil as the sister taxon to all other spider monkeys. A Bayesian dating analysis suggests that the most recent common ancestor of extant Ateles dates to ~6.7. Ma, in the late Miocene, and most species-level splits within the genus took place in the late Pliocene, suggesting that the modern diversity in spider monkeys cannot be explained principally by isolation and divergence of populations in forest refugia during the Pleistocene. Based on our new phylogenetic inference and dating analysis, we propose a revised biogeographic scenario for the evolution of this genus.
AB - Spider monkeys (Ateles) are one of the most endangered groups of primates in the Neotropics. The genus is widely distributed from Mexico to the north of Bolivia and includes many morphologically distinct forms in terms of pelage color and patterning. The taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeographic history of the genus have been subject to much debate, making scientific communication difficult and creating challenges for conservation actions. We extracted DNA from samples of all currently recognized species of spider monkeys collected from across the geographic range of the genus, sequenced ~3.5. kilobases of coding sequence from the mitochondrial genome, and used this large dataset to (a) infer the phylogenetic relationships among the different forms of spider monkeys, (b) evaluate whether currently recognized species of spider monkeys form reciprocally monophyletic groups that are concordant with contemporary classifications, and (c) estimate divergence dates among the different lineages of Ateles. We found that all proposed species of spider monkeys for which we have samples from multiple localities indeed appear to form monophyletic groups. However, in contrast to previous studies, several of our analyses robustly inferred Ateles marginatus from northeast Brazil as the sister taxon to all other spider monkeys. A Bayesian dating analysis suggests that the most recent common ancestor of extant Ateles dates to ~6.7. Ma, in the late Miocene, and most species-level splits within the genus took place in the late Pliocene, suggesting that the modern diversity in spider monkeys cannot be explained principally by isolation and divergence of populations in forest refugia during the Pleistocene. Based on our new phylogenetic inference and dating analysis, we propose a revised biogeographic scenario for the evolution of this genus.
KW - Atelidae
KW - Biogeography
KW - Mitochondrial DNA
KW - Neotropics
KW - Phylogeny
KW - Taxonomy
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84914810219&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.019
DO - 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 25451801
AN - SCOPUS:84914810219
VL - 82
SP - 467
EP - 483
JO - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
JF - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
SN - 1055-7903
IS - PB
ER -