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Comparing chromosomal and mitochondrial phylogenies of sportive lemurs (Genus Lepilemur, Primates)

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Abstract

In recent years several new sportive lemur species (genus Lepilemur) have been described. In contrast to other lemur taxa, the genus shows comparatively high chromosomal variability, which, in addition to molecular data, can be used to infer phylogenetic relationships within the genus. By comparing R-banding patterns and fluorescence in-situ hybridization data, we detected chromosomal rearrangements that occurred during speciation within the genus. The analysis of these data with cladistic methods resulted in a dichotomic phylogenetic tree comparable to that obtained from mitochondrial sequence data. However, a phase of reticulation can not be excluded from the evolution of Lepilemur. Although some incongruences were detected, both phylogenies show similar patterns concerning relationships of the basal and terminal splits. We therefore hypothesize that both, chromosome rearrangements and molecular mutations, alone or in combination, contributed to the speciation process in sportive lemurs.

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Abbreviations

CCD:

charge-coupled device

DAPI:

4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole

FISH:

fluorescence in-situ hybridization

FITC:

fluorescein isothiocyanate

HSA:

Homo sapiens

MP:

maximum parsimony

LAN:

Lepilemur ankaranensis

LDO:

Lepilemur dorsalis

LED:

Lepilemur edwardsi

LEPI:

ancestor of the genus Lepilemur

LLE:

Lepilemur leucopus

LMI:

Lepilemur microdon

LMT:

Lepilemur mittermeieri

LRU:

Lepilemur ruficaudatus

LSE:

Lepilemur septentrionalis

MMR:

Microcebus murinus

PAUP:

phylogenetic analysis using parsimony

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Direction des Eaux et Forêts of Antananarivo and Mahajanga, the Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées of Antananarivo and Mahajanga for their permission to do the field work. We thank the Faculty of Sciences of Antananarivo and the Institut Pasteur of Antananarivo for their support. We thank M. Lavaux for their technical assistance and V. Volobouev for his fruitful help with cladistic phylogeny. Grants came from A.E.E.C.L. and ULP-EA34280.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut d’Embryologie, Université Louis Pasteur, Faculté de Médecine-EA3428, 11 rue Humann, 67085, Strasbourg, France

    Yves Rumpler, Stephanie Warter, Marcel Hauwy & Jean-Luc Fausser

  2. Primate Genetics and Gene Bank of Primates, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Göttingen, Germany

    Christian Roos

  3. Cognitive Ethology, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Göttingen, Germany

    Dietmar Zinner

Authors
  1. Yves Rumpler
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  2. Stephanie Warter
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  3. Marcel Hauwy
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  4. Jean-Luc Fausser
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  5. Christian Roos
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  6. Dietmar Zinner
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Correspondence to Yves Rumpler.

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Rumpler, Y., Warter, S., Hauwy, M. et al. Comparing chromosomal and mitochondrial phylogenies of sportive lemurs (Genus Lepilemur, Primates). Chromosome Res 16, 1143–1158 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10577-008-1265-z

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