Is <i>Colobus guereza gallarum</i> a valid endemic Ethiopian taxon?
<p>Black-and-white colobus (<i>Colobus guereza</i> Rüppell, 1835) are arboreal Old World monkeys inhabiting large parts of the deciduous and evergreen forests of sub-Saharan Africa. Two of the eight subspecies of <i>Colobus guereza</i> are endemic to Ethiopia: <i>...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019-04-01
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| Series: | Primate Biology |
| Online Access: | https://www.primate-biol.net/6/7/2019/pb-6-7-2019.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Black-and-white colobus (<i>Colobus guereza</i> Rüppell,
1835) are arboreal
Old World monkeys inhabiting large parts of the deciduous and evergreen
forests of sub-Saharan Africa. Two of the eight subspecies of <i>Colobus guereza</i> are endemic to Ethiopia: <i>C. g. gallarum</i> and <i>C. g. guereza</i>.
However, the validity of the Ethiopian taxa is debated and observed
morphological differences were attributed to clinal variation within
<i>C. g. guereza</i>. To date, no molecular phylogeny of the Ethiopian
guerezas is available to facilitate their taxonomic classification. We used
mitochondrial DNA markers from 94 samples collected across Ethiopia to
reconstruct a phylogeny of respective mitochondrial lineages. In our
phylogenetic reconstruction, augmented by orthologous sequence information of
non-Ethiopian black-and-white colobus from GenBank, we found two major
Ethiopian mitochondrial clades, with one being largely congruent with the distribution
of <i>C. g. guereza</i>. The second clade was found only at two locations
in the eastern part of the putative range of <i>C. g. gallarum</i>. This
second lineage clustered with the lowland form, <i>C. g. occidentalis</i>, from central Africa, whereas the
<i>C. g. guereza</i> lineages clustered with <i>C. g. caudatus</i> and <i>C. g. kikuyuensis</i>
from Kenya and northern Tanzania. These two
guereza lineages diverged around 0.7 million years ago. In addition,
mitochondrial sequence information does not support unequivocally a distinction
of <i>C. g. caudatus</i> and <i>C. g. kikuyuensis</i>. Our findings
indicate a previous biogeographic connection between the ranges of <i>C. g. occidentalis</i>
and <i>C. g. gallarum</i> and a possible secondary
invasion of Ethiopia by members of the <i>C. g. guereza</i>–<i>C. g. caudatus</i>–<i>C. g. kikuyuensis</i> clade. Given these phylogenetic
relationships, our study supports the two-taxa hypothesis, making <i>C. g. gallarum</i>
an Ethiopian endemic, and, in combination with the taxon's very
restricted range, makes it one of the most endangered subspecies of
black-and-white colobus.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 2363-4707 2363-4715 |