Open AccessLate Pleistocene divergence and postglacial expansion in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: multilocus phylogeography of Rhopias gularis (Aves: Passeriformes)
Author(s) -
BatalhaFilho Henrique,
Miyaki Cristina Y.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of zoological systematics and evolutionary research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.769
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1439-0469
pISSN - 0947-5745
DOI - 10.1111/jzs.12118
Subject(s) - phylogeography , biology , demographic history , last glacial maximum , population , ecology , pleistocene , genetic structure , lineage (genetic) , genetic diversity , glacial period , evolutionary biology , phylogenetics , paleontology , demography , biochemistry , sociology , gene
In the last decade, phylogeographic studies have revealed a complex evolutionary history of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest ( AF ) biota. Here, we investigated the evolutionary history of Rhopias gularis , an endemic bird of the AF , based on sequences of two mitochondrial genes and three nuclear introns from 64 specimens from 15 localities. We addressed three main questions: (1) Does the genetic diversity of R. gularis exhibit a distribution pattern congruent with the refuge hypothesis postulated for the AF ? (2) Is the population genetic structure of R. gularis congruent with those observed in other AF species? (3) What were the possible historical events responsible for the population structure of this species? Our mt DNA data revealed two phylogroups: (1) phylogroup central‐south, with samples from the central and southern parts of the range; (2) and phylogroup north, which included individuals from southern Bahia. Nevertheless, nuclear loci did not reveal any evidence of population structure. Bottleneck tests indicated that the central‐south lineage experienced demographic expansion, starting around 20 kya, which coincides with the end of the last glacial maximum. However, there was no evidence of population growth in phylogroup north. Isolation with migration analysis indicated that these phylogroups split c.a . 304 kya, with limited gene flow among them. Palaeodistribution models indicated that R. gularis had a reduced distribution in the south and central AF during the last glacial maximum. Our results support a diversification scenario that is in accordance with proposed Pleistocene refugia. The phylogeographic results from our study exhibited spatial and temporal concordances and discordances with previous studies of organisms from the AF . Differences in habitat requirements of these species could be behind this complex scenario. Future studies correlating variables of the niche of these species with the observed phylogeographic patterns may help understand why there are congruent and incongruent results.