Molecular Phylogeography of the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Populations in Xinjiang of China: Comparison with other Asian, European, and North American Populations

Abstract

To illustrate phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations of Xinjiang, we determined their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences, and then investigated geographic variations and phylogenetic relationships between Xinjiang populations and other populations from Asia, Europe, and North America. The C. elaphus mtDNA control region shared different copy numbers of tandem repeats of 38 to 43-bp motifs which clearly distinguished the Western lineage from the Eastern lineage of this species in Eurasia. The western lineage comprised the Tarim populations from southern Xinjiang and the European populations, all of which had four copies of the motifs. By contrast, the Eastern lineage consisted of populations from northern Xinjiang (Tianshan and Altai Mountains), other Asian areas (Alashan, Gansu, Tibet, Mongolia, and northeastern China), and North America, all of which shared six copies of the motifs. MtDNA phylogenetic trees showed that there are two major clusters of haplotypes which referred to the Western and Eastern lineages, and that subgroupings of haplotypes in each cluster were congruent with their geographic distributions. The present study revealed that a boundary separating the Western lineage from the Eastern lineage occurs between Tarim Basin and Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. Meanwhile, North American populations were genetically closer to those of northern Xinjiang, northeastern China, and Mongolia, supporting that C. elaphus immigrated from northeastern Eurasia to North America through the glacier-induced land-bridge (Beringia) which had formed between the two continents after Late Pleistocene.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Hungarian red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) from high-throughput sequencing data and its phylogenetic position within the family Cervidae

“…Hungarian red deer joined to the semi-domesticated red deer of New Zealand with a bootstrap value of 100%, and clustered to tarim red deer (C. e. yarkandensis) forming a western clade of red deer. Other Cervus elaphus subspecies, which were Asian ecotypes, formed a second, eastern clade; which is consistent with previous reports [2,7,12,15,20,37].…”

“…The relationships among sika deer inferred from our phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses were inconsistent with subspecies designation, but similar to previous mitochondrial phylogenies [12,15,35]. The divergence times (less than 0.01 mya) suggest that Cervus elaphus songaricus, Cervus elaphus alxaicus, Cervus elaphus xanthopygus are more closely related to Cervus nippon than to other Cervus elaphus subspecies.…”

“…The phylogenetic tree showed not only the phylogeny of the whole family but also the monophyly of tribes, such as Muntiacini. The phylogenetic tree suggested classification information within species, for example, the division of Cervus elaphus into two clades: a western clade with C. e. hippelaphus and C. e. yarkandensis, and an eastern clade with C. e. xanthopygus, C. e. alxaicus and C. e. songaricus, which were Asian ecotypes [2,7,15,20,37].…”

Vocal activity and acoustic structure of the rutting calls of Siberian wapiti (Cervus elaphus sibiricus) and their imitation with a hunting luring instrument

“…Within this geographical area, C. elaphus diverged into a number of subspecies or closely related species differing substantially by their body size (Heptner et al, 1961;Fedosenko, 1980;Geist, 1998;Danilkin, 1999), morphology (Shtarev, 1970;Geist, 1998;Frey et al, 2012;Frey & Riede, 2013), and also by the acoustic structure of stag rutting calls (Nikol skii et al, 1979(Nikol skii et al, , 1987Nikol skii, 1984;Geist, 1998;Frey & Riede, 2013;Volodin et al, 2013). Phylogenetic studies suggest a close relationship between Siberian and American wapiti (Cervus elaphus sibiricus Severtzov, 1872 and C. e. canadensis Erxleben, 1777 or C. canadensis), which divergence was caused by geographical isolation by Bering Sea occurred only 9000 years ago (Mahmut et al, 2002;Ludt et al, 2004;Kuznetsova et al, 2012). As a consequence, vocalizations of Siberian wapiti are much more similar to those of American wapiti than to European red deer (Tembrock, 1965;Nikolski & Wallschlager, 1983;Volodin et al, 2013).…”

“…In contrast, the available data for American and Siberian wapiti suggest produce high-pitched bugles with an f0 above 1000 Hz: Siberian wapiti from Altai C. e. sibiricus (Nikol skii, 2011); Canadian wapiti C. e. canadensis (Struhsaker, 1968); Roosevelt wapiti C. e. roosevelti Merrian, 1897 (Bowyer & Kitchen, 1987), Tule wapiti C. e. nannodes Merriam, 1905(Volodin et al, 2013 and Rocky Mountain wapiti C. e. nelsoni Bailey, 1935 (Feighny et al, 2006;Frey & Riede, 2013). Bactrian stags C. e. bactrianus Lydekker, 1900, living today in the area of origin of C. elaphus in Central Asia (Heptner et al, 1961;Mahmut et al, 2002;Ludt et al, 2004), produce both a low and a high f0, either singly or simultaneously (Nikol skii, 1975;Volodin et al, 2013). At expansion in opposite directions from the centre of origin, the European red deer lost the high f0, whereas the Siberian and American wapiti lost the low f0 (Frey & Riede, 2013;Volodin et al, 2013).…”