© 2004 Society of Systematic Biologists
A Molecular Supermatrix of the Rabbits and Hares (Leporidae) Allows for the Identification of Five Intercontinental Exchanges During the Miocene
1 Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Zoology, University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa; E-mail: cam{at}sun.ac.za
2 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia Norwich United Kingdom
Edited by Jack Sullivan: Associate Editor
 |
Abstract |
|---|
The hares and rabbits belonging to the family Leporidae have a nearly worldwide distribution and approximately 72% of the genera have geographically restricted distributions. Despite several attempts using morphological, cytogenetic, and mitochondrial DNA evidence, a robust phylogeny for the Leporidae remains elusive. To provide phylogenetic resolution within this group, a molecular supermatrix was constructed for 27 taxa representing all 11 leporid genera. Five nuclear (SPTBN1, PRKCI, THY, TG, and MGF) and two mitochondrial (cytochrome b and 12S rRNA) gene fragments were analyzed singly and in combination using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. The analysis of each gene fragment separately as well as the combined mtDNA data almost invariably failed to provide strong statistical support for intergeneric relationships. In contrast, the combined nuclear DNA topology based on 3601 characters greatly increased phylogenetic resolution among leporid genera, as was evidenced by the number of topologies in the 95% confidence interval and the number of significantly supported nodes. The final molecular supermatrix contained 5483 genetic characters and analysis thereof consistently recovered the same topology across a range of six arbitrarily chosen model specifications. Twelve unique insertion-deletions were scored and all could be mapped to the tree to provide additional support without introducing any homoplasy. Dispersal-vicariance analyses suggest that the most parsimonious solution explaining the current geographic distribution of the group involves an Asian or North American origin for the Leporids followed by at least nine dispersals and five vicariance events. Of these dispersals, at least three intercontinental exchanges occurred between North America and Asia via the Bering Strait and an additional three independent dispersals into Africa could be identified. A relaxed Bayesian molecular clock applied to the seven loci used in this study indicated that most of the intercontinental exchanges occurred between 14 and 9 million years ago and this period is broadly coincidental with the onset of major Antarctic expansions causing land bridges to be exposed.
Keywords: Evolution; Lagomorpha; Mammalia; nuclear DNA; phylogeny; systematics
Received May 6, 2003; Revised August 21, 2003; Accepted December 9, 2003
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  W. van der Loo, J. Abrantes, and P. J. Esteves Sharing of Endogenous Lentiviral Gene Fragments among Leporid Lineages Separated for More than 12 Million Years J. Virol., March 1, 2009; 83(5): 2386 - 2388. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Carneiro, N. Ferrand, and M. W. Nachman Recombination and Speciation: Loci Near Centromeres Are More Differentiated Than Loci Near Telomeres Between Subspecies of the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Genetics, February 1, 2009; 181(2): 593 - 606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. C Alves, J. Melo-Ferreira, H. Freitas, and P. Boursot The ubiquitous mountain hare mitochondria: multiple introgressive hybridization in hares, genus Lepus Phil Trans R Soc B, September 12, 2008; 363(1505): 2831 - 2839. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. SNYDER MORPHOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS OF TWO MIOCENE ALLIGATORS FROM FLORIDA, WITH A DISCUSSION OF ALLIGATOR BIOGEOGRAPHY Journal of Paleontology, September 1, 2007; 81(5): 917 - 928. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Katzourakis, M. Tristem, O. G. Pybus, and R. J. Gifford From the Cover: Discovery and analysis of the first endogenous lentivirus PNAS, April 10, 2007; 104(15): 6261 - 6265. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Geraldes, N. Ferrand, and M. W. Nachman Contrasting Patterns of Introgression at X-Linked Loci Across the Hybrid Zone Between Subspecies of the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) Genetics, June 1, 2006; 173(2): 919 - 933. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. C. Chiu, E. K. Lee, M. G. Egan, I. N. Sarkar, G. M. Coruzzi, and R. DeSalle OrthologID: automation of genome-scale ortholog identification within a parsimony framework Bioinformatics, March 15, 2006; 22(6): 699 - 707. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. N. Eick, D. S. Jacobs, and C. A. Matthee A Nuclear DNA Phylogenetic Perspective on the Evolution of Echolocation and Historical Biogeography of Extant Bats (Chiroptera) Mol. Biol. Evol., September 1, 2005; 22(9): 1869 - 1886. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. J. Asher, J. Meng, J. R. Wible, M. C. McKenna, G. W. Rougier, D. Dashzeveg, and M. J. Novacek Stem Lagomorpha and the Antiquity of Glires Science, February 18, 2005; 307(5712): 1091 - 1094. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|