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Examination of the Taxonomy and Diversification of Leontopithecus using the Mitochondrial Control Region

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Abstract

Leontopithecus comprises 4 taxa: black lion tamarins (L. chrysopygus), golden lion tamarins (L. rosalia), black-faced lion tamarins (L. caissara), and golden-headed lion tamarins (L. chrysomelas). Endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, they are endangered (Appendix I, CITES; IUCN Critically Endangered: Leontopithecus chrysopygus, L. caissara; IUCN Endangered: L. rosalia, L. chrysomelas). The 4 taxa are differentiated morphologically and geographically and occupy different habitat types. However, it is not clear if all of them are separate species, particularly Leontopithecus caissara, or how they are related to one another evolutionarily. Therefore, we investigated lion tamarin differentiation and radiation. We sequenced the mtDNA control region and performed phylogenetic analyses, population aggregation analyses, and Mantel tests for geographic/genetic correlation. Mitochondrial genetic data suggest 3 distinct lion tamarin clades (Leontopithecus chrysomelas; L. caissara; and L. chrysopygus/L. rosalia). Phylogenetic analysis also supports: 1) the basal lion tamarin is Leontopithecus chrysomelas, and not L. chrysopygus, 2) L. caissara is not subspecific to L. chrysopygus, and 3) Quaternary forest refugia may have shaped lion tamarin diversification via a pattern that does not follow the theory of metachromism. Even though mitochondrial genetic analyses do not unequivocally support the 4 lion tamarins as separate species, one should consider the 4 lion tamarins, with equal conservation priority based on the combination of morphological, genetic, and habitat differentiation. Each of them is an extremely valuable flagship species that focuses attention on the diminishing, highly endemic Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

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Acknowledgments

The U.S. National Science Foundation (Award No. 9814257 to BMP-S, DJM), Primate Conservation, Inc. (BMP-S, DJM), Sheldon Sheps Foundation (Department of Anthropology, Columbia University to BMP-S), the Center for Environmental Research Conservation (CERC) at Columbia University, the IPÊ –(Institute for Ecological Research in Brazil), the New York Consortium for Evolutionary Primatology (BMP-S), and an NIH minority supplement (award HL61960–06 to John Ho for support of BMP-S) provided funding for the research. We completed sample collection and handling in compliance with the Animal Care and Use committee at Columbia University. We transferred BLT samples with all required U.S. permits (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and New York State Wildlife Authority) and Brazilian permits (IBAMA and CNPq). We thank Todd Disotell of New York University for his invaluable suggestions on data analysis. We thank Laury Cullen, Patricia Medici, Alcides Pissinati, and Fabiana Prado and the excellent field assistants at the IPÊ for their logistical and moral support during field collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, 10021, USA

    Beatriz M. Perez-Sweeney

  2. IPÊ, Instituto de Pesquisas Ecologicas, Nazare Paulista, SP, 12960–000, Brazil

    Claudio Valladares-Padua & Cristiana Saddy Martins

  3. Division of Environmental Biology, Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA, 22230, USA

    Juan Carlos Morales

  4. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Don J. Melnick

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  1. Beatriz M. Perez-Sweeney
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Correspondence to Beatriz M. Perez-Sweeney or Don J. Melnick.

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Perez-Sweeney, B.M., Valladares-Padua, C., Martins, C.S. et al. Examination of the Taxonomy and Diversification of Leontopithecus using the Mitochondrial Control Region. Int J Primatol 29, 245–263 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-007-9224-7

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