Phylogeographic analyses of the pampas cat (Leopardus colocola; Carnivora, Felidae) reveal a complex demographic history.

Anelisie Da Silva Santos,Leandro Silveira,Tadeu Gomes De Oliveira,Eduardo Eizirik,Tatiane Campos Trigo

doi:10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2017-0079

Abstract

The pampas cat is a small felid that occurs in open habitats throughout much of South America. Previous studies have revealed intriguing patterns of morphological differentiation and genetic structure among its populations, as well as molecular evidence for hybridization with the closely related L. tigrinus. Here we report phylogeographic analyses encompassing most of its distribution (focusing particularly on Brazilian specimens, which had been poorly sampled in previous studies), using a novel dataset comprising 2,143 bp of the mitogenome, along with previously reported mtDNA sequences. Our data revealed strong population strutucture and supported a west-to-east colonization process in this species’ history. We detected two population expansion events, one older (ca. 200 thousand years ago [kya]) in western South America and another more recent (ca. 60-50 kya) in eastern areas, coinciding with the expansion of savanna environments in Brazil. Analyses including L. tigrinus individuals bearing introgressed mtDNA from L. colocola showed a complete lack of shared haplotypes between species, indicating that their hybridization was ancient. Finally, we observed a close relationship between Brazilian/Uruguayan L. colocola haplotypes and those sampled in L. tigrinus, indicating that their hybridization was likely related to the demographic expansion of L. colocola into eastern South America.

Highlights

The formation of the Panamanian Isthmus led to the colonization of South America by several lineages of North American mammals, some of which gave rise to endemic Neotropical adaptive radiations (Eizirik, 2012)
We observed a close relationship between Brazilian/Uruguayan L. colocola haplotypes and those sampled in L. tigrinus, indicating that their hybridization was likely related to the demographic expansion of L. colocola into eastern South America
Two data sets were established for use in the analyses described below: (i) Data set A (DSA) with all sequences generated in this study as well as data reported by Trigo et al (2013); and (ii) Data set B (DSB) with all the sequences from DSA, complemented by segments reported by Cossíos et al (2009)

Summary

Introduction

The formation of the Panamanian Isthmus led to the colonization of South America by several lineages of North American mammals, some of which gave rise to endemic Neotropical adaptive radiations (Eizirik, 2012) This is the case of the genus Leopardus (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae), composed by at least eight species of small and medium-sized cats that occur in a variety of habitats across the Neotropics, and whose diversification began 3 to 5 million years ago (MYA) (Nowell and Jackson, 1996; Eisenberg and Redford, 1999; Johnson et al, 2006; Trigo et al, 2013; Li et al, 2016). The pampas cat (Leopardus colocola) is considered one of the least known species of this genus (Silveira 1995; Nowell and Jackson, 1996) It presents an extensive geographic distribution (Figure 1), occurring from Ecuador (or perhaps southwestern Colombia) to the Strait of Magellan. The pampas cat is considered Near Threatened worldwide, but its distinctive evolutionary units (see below) can all be considered as Vulnerable individually (Queirolo et al, 2013, Lucherini et al, 2016), or perhaps even more severely threatened, pending on regional in-depth analyses

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