Abstract
Montane systems, formed by a series of climatic oscillations and temporal topographic metamorphoses, have broken up the contiguous distribution of widespread species and accelerated allopatric speciation. We used a partial fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene to address speciation across the entire range of the Siberian ibex Capra sibirica. We demonstrated that the Siberian ibex is a polytypic species, plausibly formed by a combination of at least 2 species and/or 3 to 4 sub-species. Bayesian phylogeny showed that the Indian-Tajikistan (I-T) clade is adequately diverged from the other clades based on the mean intra-specific distance criterion, and warrants recognition as a distinct species. We provide pragmatic evidence for the endorsement of the I-T clade as a distinct species of Siberian ibex and urge prioritization of the conservation of this species at global and regional scales.
Highlights
Climatic oscillations and temporal topographic transformation have been 2 prominent drivers causing vicariance speciation in montane systems (Baker & Bradley 2006, Drovetski et al 2013, Yang et al 2016)
The distribution of the Siberian ibex Capra sibirica comprises diverse habitats ranging from cold deserts, rocky outcrops, steep terrain, highland flats and mountain ridges to low mountains and foothills (Bhatnagar 1997, Clark et al 2006, Khan et al 2016)
In Asia, the ibex is found in montane habitats, ranging in elevation from 500−6700 m a.s.l. in, for example, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Pakistan, southern Siberia and China (Bhatnagar 1997, Clark et al 2006, Khan et al 2016)
Summary
Climatic oscillations and temporal topographic transformation have been 2 prominent drivers causing vicariance speciation in montane systems (Baker & Bradley 2006, Drovetski et al 2013, Yang et al 2016). The distribution of the Siberian ibex Capra sibirica comprises diverse habitats ranging from cold deserts, rocky outcrops, steep terrain, highland flats and mountain ridges to low mountains and foothills (Bhatnagar 1997, Clark et al 2006, Khan et al 2016). In India, the Siberian ibex is found mainly in the Trans-Himalayan ranges of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Territory and Himachal Pradesh up to the river Satluj (Fox 1987, Bagchi et al 2004, Grubb 2005). It has not yet been established whether the Siberian ibex is a distinct species or a subspecies of C. ibex (Shackleton 1997). Pidancier et al (2006) addressed the evolutionary history of the genus Capra and highlighted speciation and westward migration from the central Asian landscape
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