Premium
Phylogeny and Speciation of Felids
Author(s) -
Mattern Michelle Y.,
McLennan Deborah A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
cladistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.323
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1096-0031
pISSN - 0748-3007
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2000.tb00354.x
Subject(s) - parapatric speciation , biology , sympatric speciation , phylogenetic tree , sympatry , allopatric speciation , zoology , ecology , phylogenetics , cytochrome b , evolutionary biology , gene flow , genetic variation , population , biochemistry , demography , sociology , gene
The phylogeny of the Felidae is reconstructed using a total evidence approach combining sequences from 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, NADH‐5, and cytochrome b genes with morphological and karyological characters. The 1504‐character data set generated two equally parsimonious trees (CI = 0.413, 1795 steps) of which a strict consensus revealed one polytomy in the placement of the bay cat group. The tree supports several traditional groupings such as the genera Panthera and Lynx and the ocelot group of small South American felids, and it provides additional resolution of relationships within and among the major felid lineages. Combining phylogenetic, distributional, and ecological data indicates that vicariant speciation has played a relatively minor role in the diversification of the felids (approximately 26% of events), while sympatric speciation has been more important than expected on theoretical grounds (approximately 51.8% of events), although postspeciation dispersal may have blurred the boundaries between sympatric, parapatric, and peripheral isolate modes. An examination of ecological changes on the felid tree shows repeated patterns of resource partitioning in time (activity patterns), space (preferred habitat type), and food (as measured by body size) among closely related species. The rapid diversification of the cats thus appears to have been associated more with ecological than with geological separation.