TY - JOUR A1 - Wilting, A. A1 - Patel, R. A1 - Pfestorf, Hans A1 - Kern, C. A1 - Sultan, K. A1 - Ario, A. A1 - Penaloza, F. A1 - Kramer-Schadt, S. A1 - Radchuk, Viktoriia A1 - Foerster, D. W. A1 - Fickel, Jörns T1 - Evolutionary history and conservation significance of the Javan leopard Panthera pardus melas JF - Journal of zoology : proceedings of the Zoological Society of London N2 - The leopard Panthera pardus is widely distributed across Africa and Asia; however, there is a gap in its natural distribution in Southeast Asia, where it occurs on the mainland and on Java but not on the interjacent island of Sumatra. Several scenarios have been proposed to explain this distribution gap. Here, we complemented an existing dataset of 68 leopard mtDNA sequences from Africa and Asia with mtDNA sequences (NADH5+ ctrl, 724bp) from 19 Javan leopards, and hindcasted leopard distribution to the Pleistocene to gain further insights into the evolutionary history of the Javan leopard. Our data confirmed that Javan leopards are evolutionarily distinct from other Asian leopards, and that they have been present on Java since the Middle Pleistocene. Species distribution projections suggest that Java was likely colonized via a Malaya-Java land bridge that by-passed Sumatra, as suitable conditions for leopards during Pleistocene glacial periods were restricted to northern and western Sumatra. As fossil evidence supports the presence of leopards on Sumatra at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, our projections are consistent with a scenario involving the extinction of leopards on Sumatra as a consequence of the Toba super volcanic eruption (similar to 74kya). The impact of this eruption was minor on Java, suggesting that leopards managed to survive here. Currently, only a few hundred leopards still live in the wild and only about 50 are managed in captivity. Therefore, this unique and distinctive subspecies requires urgent, concerted conservation efforts, integrating insitu and ex situ conservation management activities in a One Plan Approach to species conservation management. KW - biogeography KW - evolutionary history KW - Felidae KW - Southeast Asia KW - Toba eruption KW - One Plan Approach KW - Pleistocene KW - Javan leopard Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12348 SN - 0952-8369 SN - 1469-7998 VL - 299 SP - 239 EP - 250 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Patel, Riddhi P. A1 - Förster, Daniel W. A1 - Kitchener, Andrew C. A1 - Rayan, Mark D. A1 - Mohamed, Shariff W. A1 - Werner, Laura A1 - Lenz, Dorina A1 - Pfestorf, Hans A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Radchuk, Viktoriia A1 - Fickel, Jörns A1 - Wilting, Andreas T1 - Two species of Southeast Asian cats in the genus Catopuma with diverging histories: an island endemic forest specialist and a widespread habitat generalist JF - Royal Society Open Science N2 - Background. The bay cat Catopuma badia is endemic to Borneo, whereas its sister species the Asian golden cat Catopuma temminckii is distributed from the Himalayas and southern China through Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. Based onmorphological data, up to five subspecies of the Asian golden cat have been recognized, but a taxonomic assessment, including molecular data and morphological characters, is still lacking. Results. We combined molecular data (whole mitochondrial genomes), morphological data (pelage) and species distribution projections (up to the Late Pleistocene) to infer how environmental changes may have influenced the distribution of these sister species over the past 120 000 years. The molecular analysis was based on sequenced mitogenomes of 3 bay cats and 40 Asian golden cats derived mainly from archival samples. Our molecular data suggested a time of split between the two species approximately 3.16 Ma and revealed very low nucleotide diversity within the Asian golden cat population, which supports recent expansion of the population. Discussion. The low nucleotide diversity suggested a population bottleneck in the Asian golden cat, possibly caused by the eruption of the Toba volcano in Northern Sumatra (approx. 74 kya), followed by a continuous population expansion in the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene. Species distribution projections, the reconstruction of the demographic history, a genetic isolation-by-distance pattern and a gradual variation of pelage pattern support the hypothesis of a post-Toba population expansion of the Asian golden cat from south China/Indochina to PeninsularMalaysia and Sumatra. Our findings reject the current classification of five subspecies for the Asian golden cat, but instead support either a monotypic species or one comprising two subspecies: (i) the Sunda golden cat, distributed south of the Isthmus of Kra: C. t. temminckii and (ii) Indochinese, Indian, Himalayan and Chinese golden cats, occurring north of the Isthmus: C. t. moormensis. KW - Felidae KW - Southeast Asia KW - last glacial maximum KW - Toba volcanic eruption KW - hybrid capture KW - next generation sequencing Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160350 SN - 2054-5703 VL - 3 SP - 741 EP - 752 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Radchuk, Viktoriia A1 - Oppel, Steffen A1 - Groeneveld, Juergen A1 - Grimm, Volker A1 - Schtickzelle, Nicolas T1 - Simple or complex: Relative impact of data availability and model purpose on the choice of model types for population viability analyses JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - Population viability analysis (PVA) models are used to estimate population extinction risk under different scenarios. Both simple and complex PVA models are developed and have their specific pros and cons; the question therefore arises whether we always use the most appropriate model type. Generally, the specific purpose of a model and the availability of data are listed as determining the choice of model type, but this has not been formally tested yet. We quantified the relative importance of model purpose and nine metrics of data availability and resolution for the choice of a PVA model type, while controlling for effects of the different life histories of the modelled species. We evaluated 37 model pairs: each consisting of a generally simpler, population-based model (PBM) and a more complex, individual-based model (IBM) developed for the same species. The choice of model type was primarily affected by the availability and resolution of demographic, dispersal and spatial data. Low-resolution data resulted in the development of less complex models. Model purpose did not affect the choice of the model type. We confirm the general assumption that poor data availability is the main reason for the wide use of simpler models, which may have limited predictive power for population responses to changing environmental conditions. Conservation biology is a crisis discipline where researchers learned to work with the data at hand. However, for threatened and poorly-known species, there is no short-cut when developing either a PBM or an IBM: investments to collect appropriately detailed data are required to ensure PVA models can assess extinction risk under complex environmental conditions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Model complexity KW - Individual-based model KW - Population-based model KW - Matrix model KW - Structured population model KW - Stage-based model Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2015.11.022 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 323 SP - 87 EP - 95 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -