Phylogenetic relationships among populations of the mouse deer in the Southeast Asian Region from the nucleotide sequence of cytochrome b gene

Abstract

We examined the phylogeographic structure of the Lesser Mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus) and the Greater Mouse deer (Tragulus napu) from sequence data of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Three major clusters were observed on phylogenetic trees, as follows: 1) T. javanicus from the Asian mainland (Malayan Peninsula and Laos), 2) T. javanicus from Borneo Island (Sabah, Malaysia), 3) T. napu from Borneo and Pulau Tioman. Tragulus napu forms the sister lineage to all populations of T. javanicus, thereby supporting the current separation of these taxa at species level and traditional taxonomical identification of the two species by throat color. Within T. javanicus, the primary genetic separation is between the Borneo Island population and those from the Southeast Asian mainland. We suggest that subspecies should be recognised within this widespread taxon. A secondary separation within T. javanicus is observed between populations to the north and south of the Isthmus of Kra.