Abstract
Recent phylogeographical studies indicated that glacial oscillations played a key role on the phylogeographic pattern of extant species. As most studies have previously been carried out on heavily ice-covered regions, such as in European and North American regions, potential effects of climatic oscillations on species that are distributed on ice-free regions are less known. To address this, we investigated the phylogeographic pattern of an avian species endemic to South China, which was not glaciated during the Pleistocene glaciations. By using 2142 bp mitochondrial DNA, we identified 89 haplotypes defined by 39 polymorphic sites. A combination of high haplotype diversity (0.786–1.00) and low nucleotide diversity (0.00132–0.00252) was detected among geographic populations. Explicit genetic divergence was observed between S. s. semitorques and S. s. cinereicapillus but not detected among geographic populations of S. s. semitorques. Divergence time of the two subspecies was dated back to 87 Kyr which is congruent with the interglacial MIS 5. A weak phylogeographic structure due to strong gene flow among geographic populations was identified in this species, suggesting complex topography of South China has not formed barriers for this species.
Highlights
It is widely accepted that glacial oscillations during Pleistocene shaped the geographic distribution and genetic pattern of many plant and animal species on previously glaciated regions [1,2,3]
Variation is found within populations, Table 2) were found within S. s. semitorques populations, possibly as a result of strong gene flows among geographic populations
Mantel Test analyses do not indicate the pattern of isolation by distance among all sampling sites of S. s. semitorques in South China
Summary
It is widely accepted that glacial oscillations during Pleistocene shaped the geographic distribution and genetic pattern of many plant and animal species on previously glaciated regions [1,2,3]. For species distributed in Europe and North America, their phylogeographic studies have shown congruent patterns. During glacial advance, these species receded to southern refugia. The repeated range expansions and retractions have considerably influenced their genetic diversity and population differentiations. The influence of recent climatic oscillations due to glacial cycles on the phylogeographic patterns of species in unglaciated regions, especially in East Asia, remain poorly understood [3,6,7]
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