Phylogeography and evolution of carnivores in the Sunda Shelf: Felidae and Viverridae as models for Pleistocene migrations
Final Report Abstract
Our data rejected the hypothesis of species moving freely across the Sunda Shelf until rising sea-levels submerged the glacial land bridges 10.000 years ago. Our initial hypothesis of forest-dwelling species (habitat specialists) being less able than generalist species to disperse across land bridges (savannah-corridor) within the Sunda Shelf was likewise not supported by our data. A striking result of this project was the delineation of current biodiversity hotspots that surprisingly had not been hotspots during the Pleistocene: the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. Populations in these regions possessed only a subset of the genetic diversity of populations from neighbouring regions. We conclude that Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula were only recently colonized by neighbouring populations and thus are very young biodiversity hotspots. Our results for species from the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra showed that high species diversity does not necessarily imply high molecular diversity within populations of these regions. We postulate that many of the Sundaic rainforest-dwelling species survived the Pleistocene glacials on Borneo, rendering Borneo the most important rainforest refugium within southeast Asia. For the Fishing Cat, the Malay Civet and possibly the Common Palm Civet we unravelled some (hitherto unknown) ancient translocations. Fishing Cats were introduced from India to Java before the first European settlers arrived in southeast Asia. Our results indicate that translocations play a significant role in the distribution patterns of species within the Sunda Shelf. Implications for the conservation of biodiversity: So far systematic conservation planning has focused on the species level of biodiversity. Although only a limited number of species were analysed here our data indicates the need to expand conservation efforts to the basic level of biodiversity - the genetic diversity. Zoos have recognized genetic diversity as vital for their captive breeding programs and aim to retain 90% of the variability for the next 200 years. Genetic variability (the evolutionary potential) of a species needs to be protected to retain the ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions (climate, pathogen emergence, competition etc.). This is even more important as large scale habitat loss reduces the opportunity for species to shift their distribution ranges in response to climate change and thus they need to adapt in situ. Our data rejected our hypothesis of species moving freely across the Sunda Shelf until rising sea-levels submerged the glacial land bridges 10,000 years ago. Our initial hypothesis of forest-dwelling species (habitat specialists) being less able than generalist species to disperse across land bridges (savannah-corridor) within the Sunda Shelf was not supported by our data. We were surprised by the high level of genetic diversity on Borneo. The latter emphasized (together with its high level of endemism) the island’s importance for the evolution of species within the Sunda Shelf and rendering Borneo the most important rainforest refugium within Southeast Asia, a role we had envisioned for Sumatra. Another unexpected finding was that the mammal fauna on the Mentawai Islands was closer related to the Bornean mammal fauna than to the mammal fauna on neighbouring Sumatra. As mentioned above, a very surprising finding was that the current biodiversity hotspots Malay Peninsula and Sumatra had not also been hotspots in the Pleistocene. This led to the conclusion that Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula were only recently colonized by neighbouring populations and thus are actually very young biodiversity hotspots. For the Fishing Cat, the Malay Civet and possibly the Common Palm Civet we unravelled some (hitherto unknown) ancient translocations, e.g. it became clear that Javan Fishing Cats are not endogenous to Java but had been introduced from India to the island. 2011-01-22. BBC Earth News. Two forms of world's 'newest' cat, the Sunda leopard. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9369000/9369238.stm] 2011-01-22. AFP: Rare Sunda clouded leopard has two distinct types 2011-01-23. Bangkok Post. Rare Sunda clouded leopard has two distinct types. 2011-01-24. Science daily. Delving Into the Past of a Big Cat: Clouded Leopard Redefined. [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110122215859.htm] 2011-01-24. http://umwelt.scienceticker.info/2011/01/24/nebelparder-mit-bewegter-vergangenheit/ 2011-06-19. Wildsingapore.com http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-thanhalf-of-borneos-carnivores.html 2011-06-20. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Sabah http://kepkas.sabah.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37527: more-than-half-of-borneos-carnivores-face-extinction&catid=1:latest-news 2011-06-20. The Brunei Times http://www.bt.com.bn/news-asia/2011/06/20/more-halfborneos-carnivores-face-extinction 2011-06-20. New Sabah Times Online http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/49683 2011-06-20. Kompas.com (Indonesia) http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2011/06/20/03352-320/kerja.sama.dua.negara.di.kalimantan 2011-06-24. The Star Online http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?sec=nation&file=/2011/6/24/nation/8967071 2011-06-25. Borneo Post Online http://www.theborneopost.com/2011/06/25/symposiumreveals-carnivore-conservation-needs-urgent/ 2011-07-28. Science Daily http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/1106280950- 35.htm
Publications
- (2010). Evolutionary history of the Paradoxurus palm civets – a new model for Asian biogeography. J. Biogeogr. 37:2077-2097
Patou ML, Wilting A, Gaubert P, Esselstyn JA, Cruaud C, Jennings AP, Fickel J, Veron G
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010. 02364.x) - (2011). Geographical variation in and evolutionary history of the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) with the description of a new subspecies from Borneo. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 58: 317-328
Wilting A, Christiansen P, Kitchener A, Kemp YJM, Ambu L, Fickel J
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.007) - (2012) Mentawai’s endemic, relictual fauna: is it evidence for Pleistocene extinctions on Sumatra? J. Biogeogr.
Wilting A, Meijaard E, Helgen K, Fickel J
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02717.x) - (2012) Phylogenetic relationship of two threatened endemic viverrids from the Sunda Islands, Hose’s civet and Sulawesi civet. J. Zool.
Wilting A, Fickel J
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00939.x)
