Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Species Diversity of Animals in Japan pp 3–23Cite as

“Land Emergence” and “Elevation Shift” Affect Diversification: A New Perspective Toward Understanding the High Species Diversity of Terrestrial Animals in Japan

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Diversity and Commonality in Animals ((DCA))

Abstract

Animal species in Japan are characterized by a high degree of endemism. Recent phylogeographic studies have revealed interesting and unexpected patterns of diversification in the islands adjacent to the main Japanese islands (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) and the within-island diversification in the main islands. In this chapter, I propose two potential models to explain such diversification: ‘land emergence’ effects and ‘elevation shift’ effects, based on changes in animal distribution in response to climate or habitat alteration during the repeated glaciation and post-glaciation periods in the Pleistocene era. In the land emergence effect, population expansion and contraction in response to land emergence and disappearance contributed to the dynamic changes in morphological and genetic characters in the four main islands and their adjacent offshore islands. In the elevation shift effect, ‘cryptic barriers’ and ‘cryptic corridors’ were formed through elevation shifts in response to climatic changes in the past. The effect also contributed to the formation of diversification patterns among the low elevation species. For further understanding of diversification of Japanese animals, both land emergence and elevation shift effects should be evaluated for each species, with careful consideration of the ‘connectivity’ of animal dispersal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abe H (1999) Diversity and conservation of mammals of Japan. In: Yokohata Y, Nakamura S (eds) Recent advances in the biology of Japanese Insectivora. Hiba Society of Natural History, Shobara, pp 89–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Adler GH, Levins R (1994) The island syndrome in rodent populations. Q Rev Biol 69:473–490

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Avise JC (2000) Phylogeography: the history and formation of species. Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Darlington PJ Jr (1957) Zoogeography: the geographic distribution of animals. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson M (1994) Patterns of distribution in Japanese land mammals. Mamm Rev 24:91–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson M, Kawamura Y (1998) Origin of the Japanese land mammal fauna: allocation of extant species to historically-based categories. Quat Res Tokyo 37:385–395

    Google Scholar 

  • Galbreath KE, Hafner DJ, Zamudio KR (2009) When cold is better: climate-driven elevation shifts yield complex patterns of diversification and demography in an alpine specialist (American pika, Ochotona princeps). Evolution 63:2848–2863

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hikida T (2002) Natural history of the reptiles. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Hikida T (2003) Biogeography of reptiles in islands in East Asia—geographic distributions from views of molecular and morphological studies. Seibutsu Kagaku 54:205–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Hikida T, Motokawa J (1999) Phylogeographical relationships of the skinks of the genus Eumeces (Reptilia: Scincidae) in East Asia. In: Ota H (ed) Tropical island herpetofauna: origin, current diversity, and conservation. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam, pp 231–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Hikida T, Ota H (1997) Biogeography of reptiles in the subtropical East Asian islands. In: Lue KY, Chen TH (eds) Proceedings of the symposium on the phylogeny, biogeography and conservation of fauna and flora of East Asian region. National Science Council, Taipei, pp 11–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Hikida T, Ota H, Toyama M (1992) Herpetofauna of an encounter zone of Oriental and Palearctic elements: amphibians and reptiles of the Tokara Group and adjacent islands in the northern Ryukyus, Japan. Biol Mag Okinawa 30:29–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Kageyama M, Motokawa M, Hikida T (2009) Geographic variation in morphological traits of the large Japanese field mouse, Apodemus speciosus (Rodentia, Muridae), from the Izu Island Group, Japan. Zool Sci 26:266–276

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kawamoto Y, Shotake T, Nozawa K, Kawamoto S, Tomari K, Kawai S, Shirai K, Morimitsu Y, Takagi N, Akaza H, Fujii H, Hagihara K, Aizawa K, Akachi S, Oi T, Hayaishi S (2007) Postglacial population expansion of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) inferred from mitochondrial DNA phylogeography. Primates 48:27–40

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura Y (2007) Last glacial and Holocene land mammals of the Japanese Islands: their fauna, extinction and immigration. Quat Res (Tokyo) 46:171–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura Y, Nakagawa R (2012) Terrestrial mammal faunas in the Japanese Islands during OIS 3 and OIS 2. In: Ono A, Izuho M (eds) Environmental changes and human occupation in East Asia during OIS 3 and OIS 2. Archaopress, Oxford, pp 33–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimura M (1996) Quaternary paleogeography of the Ryukyu Arc. J Geogr 105:259–285 [in Japanese with English abstract]

    Google Scholar 

  • Kizaki K, Oshiro I (1977) Paleogeography of the Ryukyu Islands. Mar Sci Mon 9:542–549 [in Japanese with English abstract]

    Google Scholar 

  • Kizaki K, Oshiro I (1980) The origin of the Ryukyu Islands. In: Kizaki K (ed) Natural history of the Ryukyus. Tsukiji Shokan, Tokyo, pp 8–37 [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi T (1981) On the reliable using of scientific names of the Japanese field mice, Apodemus. Honyurui Kagaku (Mamm Sci) 42:27–33 [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuroda N (1931) Evaluation of the Watase’s line from the view point of vertebrate distribution. Zool Mag (Tokyo) 43:172–175 [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Lomolino MV (2005) Body size evolution in insular vertebrates: generality of the island rule. J Biogeogr 32:1683–1699

    Google Scholar 

  • Lomolino MV, Sax DF, Palombo MR, van der Geer AA (2012) Of mice and mammoths: evaluations of crucial explanations for body size evolution in insular mammals. J Biogeogr 39:842–854

    Google Scholar 

  • Lomolino MV, van der Geer AA, Liras GA, Palombo MR, Sax DF, Rossi R (2013) Of mice and mammoths: generality and antiquity of the island rule. J Biogeogr 40:1427–1439

    Google Scholar 

  • Meiri S, Cooper N, Purvis A (2008) The island rule: made to be broken? Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 275:141–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Millien-Parra V, Jaeger JJ (1999) Island biogeography of the Japanese terrestrial mammal assemblages: an example of a relict fauna. J Biogeogr 26:959–972

    Google Scholar 

  • Motokawa M (2000) Biogeography of living mammals in the Ryukyu Islands. Tropics 10:63–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Motokawa M (2008) Small mammals of Japan, from the viewpoint of zoogeography. In: Motokawa M (ed) Mammalogy in Japan 1, small-sized mammals. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, pp 1–29 [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Motokawa M (2009) Distribution patterns and zoogeography of Japanese mammals. In: Ohdachi SD, Ishibashi Y, Iwasa MA, Saitoh T (eds) The wild mammals of Japan. Shoukadoh Book Sellers, Kyoto, pp 44–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Motokawa M (2014) “Island rule” as viewed from small mammals of Japan: discussion and prospect with emphasis on the Japanese large field mouse. Seibutsu Kagaku 66:4–14 [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Motokawa M (2015) Distribution patterns and zoogeography of Japanese mammals. In: Ohdachi SD, Ishibashi Y, Iwasa MA, Fukui D, Saitoh T (eds) The wild mammals of Japan. Shoukadoh Book Sellers, Kyoto, pp 44–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Motokawa M, Lin LK, Harada M, Hattori S (2003) Morphometric geographic variation in the Asian lesser white-toothed shrew Crocidura shantungensis (Mammalia, Insectivora) in East Asia. Zool Sci 20:789–795

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ohshima K (1990) The history of straits around the Japanese Islands in the late-Quaternary. Quat Res (Tokyo) 29:193–208 [in Japanese with English abstract]

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohshima K (1991) The late-Quaternary sea-level change of the Japanese Islands. J Geogr 100:967–975 [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Ono Y (1991) Glacial and periglacial paleoenvironments in the Japanese Islands. Quat Res (Tokyo) 30:203–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Oshida T, Masuda R, Ikeda K (2009) Phylogeography of the Japanese giant flying squirrel, Petaurista leucogenys (Rodentia: Sciuridae): implication of glacial refugia in an arboreal small mammal in the Japanese Islands. Biol J Linn Soc 98:47–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Oshida T, Lin LK, Chang SW, Chen YJ, Lin JK (2011) Phylogeography of two sympatric giant flying squirrel subspecies, Petaurista alborufus lena and P. philippensis grandis (Rodentia: Sciuridae), in Taiwan. Biol J Linn Soc 102:404–419

    Google Scholar 

  • Osozawa S, Shinjo R, Armid A, Watanabe Y, Horiguchi T, Wakabayashi J (2012) Paleogeographic reconstruction of the 1.55 Ma synchronous isolation of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, and Taiwan and inflow of the Kuroshio warm current. Int Geol Rev 54:1369–1388

    Google Scholar 

  • Osozawa S, Su ZH, Oba Y, Yagi T, Watanabe Y, Wakabayashi J (2013) Vicariant speciation due to 1.55 Ma isolation of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, based on geological and GenBank data. Entomol Sci 16:267–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Osozawa S, Takahashi M, Wakabayashi J (2015) Ryukyu endemic Mycalesis butterflies, speciated vicariantly due to isolation of the islands since 1.55 Ma. Lepidoptera Sci 66:8–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Ota H (1998) Geographic patterns of endemism and speciation in amphibians and reptiles of the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan, with special reference to their paleogeographical implications. Res Popul Ecol 40:189–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Ota H (2000) The current geographic faunal pattern of reptiles and amphibians of the Ryukyu Archipelago and adjacent regions. Tropics 10:51–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Ota H, Sakaguchi N, Ikehara S, Hikida T (1993) The herpetofauna of the Senkaku Group, Ryukyu Archipelago. Pac Sci 47:248–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Ota Y, Koike K, Chinzei K, Nogami M, Machida H, Matsuda T (2010) Geomorphology of the Japanese islands. University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato JJ (2016) A review of the processes of mammalian faunal assembly in Japan: insights from molecular phylogenetics. In: Motokawa M, Kajihara H (eds) Species diversity of animals in Japan. Springer Japan, Tokyo, pp 49–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Shintaku Y, Motokawa M (2016) Geographic variation in skull morphology of the large Japanese field mice, Apodemus speciosus (Rodentia: Muridae) revealed by geometric morphometric analysis. Zool Sci 32:132–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Shintaku Y, Kageyama M, Motokawa M (2012) Morphological variation in external traits of the large Japanese field mouse, Apodemus speciosus. Mamm Stud 37:113–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki H, Yasuda SP, Sakaizumi M, Wakana S, Motokawa M, Tsuchiya K (2004) Differential geographic patterns of mitochondrial DNA variation in two sympatric species of Japanese wood mice, Apodemus speciosus and A. argenteus. Genes Genet Syst 79:165–176

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tojo K, Sekiné K, Suzuki T, Saito R, Takenaka M (2016) The species and genetic diversities of insects in Japan, with special reference to the aquatic insects. In: Motokawa M, Kajihara H (eds) Species diversity of animals in Japan. Springer Japan, Tokyo, pp 229–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Tokuda M (1941a) Nippon seibutsu chiri [Biogeography of Japan]. Kokon Shoin, Tokyo [in Japanese]

    Google Scholar 

  • Tokuda M (1941b) A revised monograph of the Japanese and Manchou–Korean Muridae. Biogeographica 4:1–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomozawa M, Suzuki H (2008) A trend of central versus peripheral structuring in mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences of the Japanese wood mouse, Apodemus speciosus. Zool Sci 25:273–285

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tsuchiya K (1974) Cytological and biochemical studies of Apodemus speciosus group in Japan. J Mamm Soc Jpn 6:67–87 [in Japanese with English abstract]

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuchiya K, Moriwaki K, Yosida TH (1973) Cytological survey in wild population of Japanese wood mouse, Apodemus speciosus and its breeding. Exp Anim 22(Suppl):221–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker RJ (1998) Island biogeography: ecology, evolution, and conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuan SL, Lin LK, Oshida T (2006) Phylogeography of the mole-shrew (Anourosorex yamashinai) in Taiwan: implications of interglacial refugia in a high-elevation small mammal. Mol Ecol 15:2119–2130

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program B, Asia-Africa Scientific Platforms, Sumitomo Foundation, Heiwa Nakajima Foundation, and Kyoto University SPIRITS program. Dr. Yuchun Li of Shandong University provided various suggestions and discussion about the geomorphological effect on zoogeography in East Asia. I thank John L. Koprowski, Alex Hon-Tsen Yu, and Hitoshi Suzuki for valuable comments on the early versions of the manuscript, and Yuta Shintaku for help with preparing Figs. 1.4 and 1.7. The final manuscript was completed during the time when I was a visiting scholar of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and I deeply appreciate Prof. Suchinda Malaivijitnond.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Masaharu Motokawa

Authors
  1. Masaharu Motokawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masaharu Motokawa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Masaharu Motokawa

  2. Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Hiroshi Kajihara

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Japan

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Motokawa, M. (2017). “Land Emergence” and “Elevation Shift” Affect Diversification: A New Perspective Toward Understanding the High Species Diversity of Terrestrial Animals in Japan. In: Motokawa, M., Kajihara, H. (eds) Species Diversity of Animals in Japan. Diversity and Commonality in Animals. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56432-4_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation