Phylogeography of the Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus

Abstract

The Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus is widely distributed in temperate to subtropical regions of the Palaearctic realm. Populations of Common Pheasant have been classified into five subspecies groups based on morphological variations in male plumage. Previous phylogeographical studies have focused on limited sets of subspecies groups in the eastern Palaearctic and knowledge on subspecies in the western Palaearctic region is still poor. In this study, we undertake the first comprehensive analysis of subspecies from all five defined subspecies groups across the entire Palaearctic region. Two mitochondrial (CYTB and CR) and two nuclear (HMG and SPI) loci were used to investigate genetic relationships of these subspecies groups and to infer their dispersal routes. Our results revealed that the subspecies elegans, with its range in northwestern Yunnan, China, was in the basal position among 17 studied subspecies, supporting a previous hypothesis that the Common Pheasant most probably originated in forests in southeastern China. Subspecies in the western Palaearctic region nested within the most subspecies‐rich torquatus group (‘Grey‐rumped Pheasants’), indicating that the torquatus group is not a clade but instead forms a gradation with other subspecies and subspecies groups. Our dating analysis suggested that the initial divergence among populations of Common Pheasant originated around 3.4 Mya with subsequent dispersal into the Western Palaearctic region during the Late Pliocene–Lower Pleistocene approximately 2.5–1.8 Mya. We propose two possible east‐to‐west colonization routes for the Common Pheasant and suggest conservation implications for some regional subspecies. Overall, this study demonstrates the lack of concordance between morphology‐based subspecies delimitation and their genetic relationships. This is likely to be a consequence of initial isolation due to historical vicariance followed by population admixture due to recent range expansion of Common Pheasant in the western Palaearctic region.

Development and characterization of novel microsatellite markers for the Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) using RAD-seq

“…While no substantial genetic differentiation within the six subspecies in eastern China (decollatus, torquatus, kiangsuensis, karpowi, pallasi and strauchi), the three subspecies vlangalii, satscheuensis and elegans formed distinctive genetic clusters. These results corroborate the phylogeographic relationships revealed by mtDNA and nuclear intron data in an earlier study (Kayvanfar et al 2017). In eastern China, subspecies are parapatric and their boundaries genetically vigorous, which is probably due to low genetic divergence and frequent gene flow.…”

“…For all these reasons genetic pollution in the wild Common Pheasant gene pool may occur. Last but not least, some range-restricted subspecies of the Common Pheasants inhabit isolated range and extreme environments such as arid regions, islands and mountains which preserve unique phenotypes and genotypes for future conservation and stocking (Braasch et al 2011;Kayvanfar et al 2017). For example, the formosanus subspecies of the Common Pheasant is endemic to Taiwan; other subspecies hagenbecki, alaschanicus and tarimensis are isolated and have adapted to semi-desert conditions (Johnsgard 1999).…”

Regionally divergent drivers of historical diversification in the late Quaternary in a widely distributed generalist species, the common pheasantPhasianus colchicus

“…In congruence with Kayvanfar et al (2017), the subspecies P. c. elegans of the Hengduan mountains of south-central China and northern Myanmar was found to be the sister group of the remaining common pheasant taxa. It has traditionally been included in the torquatus group.…”

“…A recently published study using two mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) fragments and two autosomal nuclear introns revealed incongruence between these morphology-based subspecies groups and phylogenetic relationships (Kayvanfar et al , 2017). The subspecies P. c. elegans from the Hengduan mountains (south-central China) and northern Myanmar, which is traditionally included in the torquatus group, was found to be the sister group of all remaining taxa, although with low support.…”

“…We therefore aimed here at building a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary history of the common pheasant. To test the phylogeographic patterns indicated by Kayvanfar et al (2017) we increased the taxon sampling by a factor of more than three with a larger coverage from the species’ entire range in Asia, and genotyped these individuals at six nuclear introns, one Z-linked and two mtDNA loci. We used coalescent approaches to reconstruct the spatio-temporal diversification and demographic history of the common pheasant’s different evolutionary lineages to test for regionally different impacts of past climate and associated environmental change.…”