Abstract
We investigated the phylogeography of the smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) to determine its spatial genetic structure for aiding an adaptive conservation management of the species. Fifty-eight modern and 11 archival (dated 1882–1970) otters sampled from Iraq to Malaysian Borneo were genotyped (mtDNA Cytochrome-b, 10 microsatellite DNA loci). Moreover, 16 Aonyx cinereus (Asian small-clawed otter) and seven Lutra lutra (Eurasian otter) were sequenced to increase information available for phylogenetic reconstructions. As reported in previous studies, we found that L. perspicillata, A. cinereus and A. capensis (African clawless otter) grouped in a clade sister to the genus Lutra, with L. perspicillata and A. cinereus being reciprocally monophyletic. Within L. perspicillata, we uncovered three Evolutionarily Significant Units and proved that L. p. maxwelli is not only endemic to Iraq but also the most recent subspecies. We suggest a revision of the distribution range limits of easternmost L. perspicillata subspecies. We show that smooth-coated otters in Singapore are L. perspicillata x A. cinereus hybrids with A. cinereus mtDNA, the first reported case of hybridization in the wild among otters. This result also provides evidence supporting the inclusion of L. perspicillata and A. cinereus in the genus Amblonyx, thus avoiding the paraphyly of the genus Aonyx.
Highlights
Bay of Bengal across Indochina to southwestern Yunnan, the Malaysian Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo[15] (Fig. 1)
The evolutionary relationships of L. perspicillata within the Lutrinae perfectly reflected the corresponding part of the phylogeny obtained by Koepfli et al.[28]: L. perspicillata was placed with Aonyx in one clade and L. lutra grouped with L. sumatrana in another sister to the previous one (Fig. 2)
We confirmed the systematic placement of L. perspicillata as sister to A. cinereus, and the well-established phylogenetic relationships between these species were further emphasised by the disclosure of L. perspicillata x A. cinereus hybrids
Summary
Bay of Bengal across Indochina to southwestern Yunnan, the Malaysian Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo[15] (Fig. 1). We investigated the molecular phylogeography of L. perspicillata relying on a large sample size collected across the entire species’ range to determine both spatial genetic structure and diversification of the taxon for its management within an adaptive conservation framework[26]. We employed both mitochondrial and microsatellite (Short Tandem Repeats, STR) DNA markers due to their complementary nature, as analyses based on mtDNA alone could reveal only a small part of the evolutionary history of the species[27]. In order to increase geographical coverage, we combined data from modern DNA with those obtained from smooth-coated otter specimens resident in natural history museum collections (archival DNA)
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