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Molecular Phylogenetics of Aotus (Platyrrhini, Cebidae)

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Abstract

The accurate identification of taxa of Aotus is essential for 1) the development of precise biomedical assays, 2) the determination of potential illegal traffic of this genus, and 3) conservation. Although many studies have contributed to what we know about the phylogenetics of Aotus, none used a sufficiently large number of samples to clarify its complexity. To address this need, we sequenced 696 base pairs of the mitochondrial cytochrome-oxidase II gene (mtCOII) in 69 specimens of 7 taxa of Aotus. We also analyzed 8 microsatellite loci in 136 individuals of 6 taxa. In contrast to previous studies, we sampled only wild individuals and have a precise geographical origin for each one. The mtDNA results showed that: 1) the northern gray-necked group of Aotus is genetically more homogeneous than the polyphyletic red-necked group of Aotus; 2) the ancestors of Aotus vociferans seem to be the original species candidate for the current Aotus; 3) Aotus azarae azarae and A. a. boliviensis are the most differentiated taxa, likely a result of extreme genetic drift during stasipatric speciation; 4) the first genetic splits found among taxa of Aotus occurred during the Pliocene (or even Miocene) while the most recent ones happened during the Pleistocene, when forest refugia may have played an important role in speciation. The mean number of microsatellite alleles was 3–5.33 alleles per locus. We found some private alleles that could be useful in helping to identify illegal trade, although a larger sample size is needed to ensure that these alleles are really private to the relevant taxa. These new findings increase our understanding of the phylogeny of Aotus and the level of genetic diversity within different taxa of Aotus.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the SDA for the project entitled “Fortalecimiento del control y prevención del tráfico ilegal de fauna silvestre, especialmente de Primates, a través de la determinación de zonas sometidas a extracción ilegal utilizando pruebas de genética molecular de poblaciones,” which allowed us to obtain the necessary financial resources to conduct the current study. We thank P. Escobar-Armel and A. Rodriguez for their help in obtaining samples of Aotus during the last 7 years. We thank the Bolivian and Peruvian Ministry of Environment; the Dirección General de Biodiversidad; the Wildlife Conservation Society and CITES from Bolivia; the PRODUCE, Dirección Nacional de Extracción and Procesamiento Pesquero from Perú; and the Consejo Nacional del Ambiente and the Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales (INRENA) for their role in facilitating the obtainment of the collection permits. Special thanks go to the Colección Boliviana de Fauna (Dr. Julieta Vargas) in La Paz (Bolivia). We also thank the Ticuna, Yucuna, Yaguas, Witoto, and Cocama Indian communities in the Colombian Amazon, Bora, Ocaina, Shipibo-Comibo, Capanahua, Angoteros, Orejón, Cocama, Kishuarana, and Alama in the Peruvian Amazon, and the Movima, Moxeño, Sirionó, Canichana, Cayubaba, and Chacobo Indian communities in Bolivia. M. Ruiz-García also thanks Drs. Thomas Defler and Sara Bennet for their continuous encouragement to conduct molecular genetic analyses of Neotropical primates. In addition, M. Ruiz-García thanks Dr. Angela Maldonado and the referees for their reviews of this manuscript. This manuscript serves as tribute to all those Aotus sacrificed “in the name of science.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Genética de Poblaciones Molecular-Biología Evolutiva, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, DC, Colombia

    Manuel Ruiz-García, Catalina Vásquez, Emily Camargo, Adriana Vallejo, Myreya Pinedo & Diana Alvarez

  2. Secretaría Distrital Ambiental, Bogotá, DC, Colombia

    Norberto Leguizamón

  3. Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura, Estación Experimental, Iquitos, Perú

    Hugo Gálvez

  4. Fundación Omacha, Bogotá, DC, Colombia

    Luisa Castellanos-Mora

  5. Biology Department, Penn State University-Fayette, Uniontown, PA, 15401-0519, USA

    Joseph Shostell

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  1. Manuel Ruiz-García
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  2. Catalina Vásquez
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  3. Emily Camargo
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  4. Norberto Leguizamón
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Correspondence to Manuel Ruiz-García.

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Ruiz-García, M., Vásquez, C., Camargo, E. et al. Molecular Phylogenetics of Aotus (Platyrrhini, Cebidae). Int J Primatol 32, 1218–1241 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9539-2

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