Explosive Pleistocene range expansion leads to widespread Amazonian sympatry between robust and gracile capuchin monkeys

Lynch Alfaro, JW; Boubli, JP; Olson, LE; Di Fiore, A; Wilson, B; Gutiérrez-Espeleta, GA; Chiou, KL; Schulte, M; Neitzel, S; Ross, V; Schwochow, D; Nguyen, MTT; Farias, I; Janson, H; Alfaro, ME

Abstract

Aim Capuchin monkey species are widely distributed across Central and South
America. Morphological studies consistently divide the clade into robust and
gracile forms, which show extensive sympatry in the Amazon Basin. We use
genetic data to test whether Miocene or Plio-Pleistocene processes may explain
capuchin species’ present distributions, and consider three possible scenarios to
explain widespread sympatry.
Location The Neotropics, including the Amazon and Atlantic Coastal Forest.
Methods We sequenced the 12S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome b genes from
capuchin monkey specimens. The majority were sampled from US museum
collections and were wild-caught individuals of known provenance across their
distribution. We applied a Bayesian discrete-states diffusion model, which
reconstructed the most probable history of invasion across nine subregions. We
used comparative methods to test for phylogeographic association and dispersal
rate variation.
Results Capuchins contained two well supported monophyletic clades, the
morphologically distinct ‘gracile’ and ‘robust’ groups. The time-tree analysis
estimated a late Miocene divergence between Cebus and Sapajus and a subsequent
Plio-Pleistocene diversification within each of the two clades. Bayesian analysis of
phylogeographic diffusion history indicated that the current wide-ranging
sympatry of Cebus and Sapajus across much of the Amazon Basin was the
result of a single explosive late Pleistocene invasion of Sapajus from the Atlantic
Forest into the Amazon, where Sapajus is now sympatric with gracile capuchins
across much of their range.
Main conclusions The biogeographic history of capuchins suggests late
Miocene geographic isolation of the gracile and robust forms. Each form
diversified independently, but during the Pleistocene, the robust Sapajus
expanded its range from the Atlantic Forest to the Amazon, where it has now
encroached substantially upon what was previously the exclusive range of gracile
Cebus. The genus Cebus, as currently recognized, should be split into two genera
to reflect the Miocene divergence and two subsequent independent Pliocene
radiations: Cebus from the Amazon and Sapajus from the Atlantic Forest

Citation

Lynch Alfaro, J., Boubli, J., Olson, L., Di Fiore, A., Wilson, B., Gutiérrez-Espeleta, G., …Alfaro, M. (2012). Explosive Pleistocene range expansion leads to widespread Amazonian sympatry between robust and gracile capuchin monkeys. Journal of Biogeography, 39(2), 272-288. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02609.x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Oct 18, 2011
• Publication Date: Jan 12, 2012
• Deposit Date: Nov 7, 2014
• Journal: Journal of Biogeography
• Print ISSN: 0305-0270
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 272-288
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02609.x
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02609.x
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2699
• Additional Information: Funders : Funder not known