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  - Gaubert, Philippe
A1  - Patel, Riddhi P.
A1  - Veron, Geraldine
A1  - Goodman, Steven M.
A1  - Willsch, Maraike
A1  - Vasconcelos, Raquel
A1  - Lourenco, Andre
A1  - Sigaud, Marie
A1  - Justy, Fabienne
A1  - Joshi, Bheem Dutt
A1  - Fickel, Jörns
A1  - Wilting, Andreas
T1  - Phylogeography of the Small Indian Civet and Origin of Introductions to Western Indian Ocean Islands
JF  - The journal of heredity : official journal of the American Genetic Association
N2  - The biogeographic dynamics affecting the Indian subcontinent, East and Southeast Asia during the Plio-Pleistocene has generated complex biodiversity patterns. We assessed the molecular biogeography of the small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) through mitogenome and cytochrome b + control region sequencing of 89 historical and modern samples to (1) establish a time-calibrated phylogeography across the species’ native range and (2) test introduction scenarios to western Indian Ocean islands. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses identified 3 geographic lineages (East Asia, sister-group to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent + northern Indochina) diverging 3.2–2.3 million years ago (Mya), with no clear signature of past demographic expansion. Within Southeast Asia, Balinese populations separated from the rest 2.6–1.3 Mya. Western Indian Ocean populations were assigned to the Indian subcontinent + northern Indochina lineage and had the lowest mitochondrial diversity. Approximate Bayesian computation did not distinguish between single versus multiple introduction scenarios. The early diversification of the small Indian civet was likely shaped by humid periods in the Late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene that created evergreen rainforest barriers, generating areas of intra-specific endemism in the Indian subcontinent, East, and Southeast Asia. Later, Pleistocene dispersals through drier conditions in South and Southeast Asia were likely, giving rise to the species’ current natural distribution. Our molecular data supported the delineation of only 4 subspecies in V. indica, including an endemic Balinese lineage. Our study also highlighted the influence of prefirst millennium AD introductions to western Indian Ocean islands, with Indian and/or Arab traders probably introducing the species for its civet oil.
KW  - Asia
KW  - biogeography
KW  - civet oil
KW  - mtDNA
KW  - Plio-Pleistocene
KW  - Viverridae
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esw085
SN  - 0022-1503
SN  - 1465-7333
VL  - 108
SP  - 270
EP  - 279
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Cary
ER  -