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A phylogeny of softshell turtles (Testudines: Trionychidae) with reference to the taxonomic status of the critically endangered, giant softshell turtle, Rafetus swinhoei

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Abstract

Several important aspects of the evolution of the softshell turtle (family Trionychidae) have not been addressed thoroughly in previous studies, including the pattern and timing of diversification of major clades and species boundaries of the critically endangered Shanghai Softshell Turtle, Rafetus swinhoei. To address these issues, we analyzed data from two mitochondrial loci (cytochrome b and ND4) and one nuclear intron (R35) for all species of trionychid turtles, except Pelochelys signifera, and for all known populations of Rafetus swinhoei in Vietnam and one from China. Phylogenetic analyses using three methods (maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference) produce a well resolved and strongly supported phylogeny. The results of our time-calibration and biogeographic optimization analyses show that trionychid dispersals out of Asia took place between 45 and 49 million years ago in the Eocene. Interestingly, the accelerated rates of diversification and dispersal within the family correspond surprisingly well to global warming periods between the mid Paleocene and the early Oligocene and from the end of the Oligocene to the mid Miocene. Our study also indicates that there is no significant genetic divergence among monophyletic populations of Rafetus swinhoei, and that previous taxonomic revision of this species is unwarranted.

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Acknowledgments

The Turtle Conservation Fund generously provided research funding for this project. Field work of T. Q.N. in Vietnam was supported by the Project “The Red Data Book of Vietnam” (Grant No. DTDL.2011-G/23). We are grateful to Nguyen Van Thanh for laboratory assistance and helpful discussions, Ms. Le Thanh Hieu and Vu Dang Dong for support and to Le Sy Vinh and Dang Cao Cuong for computer assistance. Comments from four anonymous reviewers greatly improved the paper.

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  1. Long D. Dinh

    Present address: Department of Fundamental Sciences, VNU-School of Medicine and Pharmacy, 144 Xuan Thuy Road, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Science, Hanoi University of Science, VNU, 334 Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Minh Le

  2. Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, VNU, 19 Le Thanh Tong Street, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Minh Le

  3. Department of Herpetology, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Minh Le

  4. Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Hanoi University of Science, VNU, 334 Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Ha T. Duong & Long D. Dinh

  5. Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Truong Q. Nguyen

  6. Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Cologne Biocenter, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Strasse 47b, 50674, Cologne, Germany

    Truong Q. Nguyen

  7. Chelonian Research Institute, 402 South Central Avenue, Oviedo, FL, 32765, USA

    Peter C. H. Pritchard

  8. Asian Turtle Program, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, No. 1302 Thanh Cong Building, 57 Lang Ha Street, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Timothy McCormack

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Le, M., Duong, H.T., Dinh, L.D. et al. A phylogeny of softshell turtles (Testudines: Trionychidae) with reference to the taxonomic status of the critically endangered, giant softshell turtle, Rafetus swinhoei . Org Divers Evol 14, 279–293 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-014-0169-3

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