Genetic evidence supports three previously described species of greater glider, Petauroides volans, P. minor, and P. armillatus

Denise C Mcgregor,Amanda Padovan,Kara N Youngentob,Arthur Georges,Andrew Krockenberger,Hwan-Jin Yoon

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-76364-z

Abstract

The identification and classification of species are essential for effective conservation management. This year, Australia experienced a bushfire season of unprecedented severity, resulting in widespread habitat loss and mortality. As a result, there has been an increased focus on understanding genetic diversity and structure across the range of individual species to protect resilience in the face of climate change. The greater glider (Petauroides volans) is a large, gliding eucalypt folivore. This nocturnal arboreal marsupial has a wide distribution across eastern Australia and is considered the sole extant member of the genus Petauroides. Differences in morphology have led to suggestions that the one accepted species is actually three. This would have substantial impacts on conservation management, particularly given a recent history of declining populations, coupled with extensive wildfires. Until now, genetic evidence to support multiple species has been lacking. For the first time, we used DArT sequencing on greater glider tissue samples from multiple regions and found evidence of three operational taxonomic units (OTUs) representing northern, central and southern groups. The three OTUs were also supported by our morphological data. These findings have important implications for greater glider management and highlight the role of genetics in helping to assess conservation status.

Highlights

The morphological measurement from the sampled greater gliders from the five study areas align with these three operational taxonomic units (OTUs)
The Northern and Southern populations differed significantly in all morphological measurements, and this is in keeping with previously reported differences in the ear, body size, and pelage colouration of the currently recognised subspecies (P. volans minor and P. volans volans)[16]
We found evidence of hybridisation between the Northern and Central groups and one of those hybrids had morphological measurements that were intermediate between those groups as well

Summary

Introduction

Excluding the putative hybridizations, fixed differences analysis[26,27] identified four putative operational taxonomic units (OTUs) diagnosable on the basis of one or more fixed allelic differences—the Northern (Taravale and Blackbraes combined), and the two Southern, Bendoc and Wombat. We combined Wombat and Bendoc to yield a final three putative OTUs, representing North, Central, and Southern populations (Fig. 2).

Results

Conclusion