Abstract
BackgroundSpecies are viewed as the fundamental unit in most subdisciplines of biology. To conservationists this unit represents the currency for global biodiversity assessments. Even though Madagascar belongs to one of the top eight biodiversity hotspots of the world, the taxonomy of its charismatic lemuriform primates is not stable. Within the last 25 years, the number of described lemur species has more than doubled, with many newly described species identified among the nocturnal and small-bodied cheirogaleids. Here, we characterize the diversity of the dwarf lemurs (genus Cheirogaleus) and assess the status of the seven described species, based on phylogenetic and population genetic analysis of mtDNA (cytb + cox2) and three nuclear markers (adora3, fiba and vWF).ResultsThis study identified three distinct evolutionary lineages within the genus Cheirogaleus. Population genetic cluster analyses revealed a further layer of population divergence with six distinct genotypic clusters.ConclusionBased on the general metapopulation lineage concept and multiple concordant data sets, we identify three exclusive groups of dwarf lemur populations that correspond to three of the seven named species: C. major, C. medius and C. crossleyi. These three species were found to be genealogically exclusive in both mtDNA and nDNA loci and are morphologically distinguishable. The molecular and morphometric data indicate that C. adipicaudatus and C. ravus are synonymous with C. medius and C. major, respectively. Cheirogaleus sibreei falls into the C. medius mtDNA clade, but in morphological analyses the membership is not clearly resolved. We do not have sufficient data to assess the status of C. minusculus. Although additional patterns of population differentiation are evident, there are no clear subdivisions that would warrant additional specific status. We propose that ecological and more geographic data should be collected to confirm these results.
Highlights
Species are viewed as the fundamental unit in most subdisciplines of biology
The adora3 alignment contained no indels. Both the fiba and von Willebrand Factor intron 11 (vWF) alignments contained a small number of 1–2 bp indels
Based on the general metapopulation lineage concept and multiple sources of data, we clarify the exclusivity of three of the seven recognized dwarf lemur species: C. major, C. medius and C. crossleyi. These three species were found to be genealogically exclusive in both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nDNA loci, and they exhibit morphological distinctiveness
Summary
Species are viewed as the fundamental unit in most subdisciplines of biology. To conservationists this unit represents the currency for global biodiversity assessments. In most biodiversity and conservation assessments species are the fundamental unit by which diversity is measured (e.g [1,2,3]). Zink [8] proposed a doubling of known bird species, mostly due to the elevation of subspecies to full specific status. Such a drastic difference in species numbers would necessitate an extensive revision of most conservation measures. Robust measures of species delimitation and boundaries are crucial to understanding the evolution of organisms and how best to manage biodiversity in the face of increased anthropogenic pressure
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