Riverine effects on mitochondrial structure of Bornean orang‐utans (Pongo pygmaeus) at two spatial scales

Abstract

We examined mitochondrial DNA control region sequences of 73 Kinabatangan orangutans to test the hypothesis that the phylogeographical structure of the Bornean orangutan is influenced by riverine barriers. The Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary contains one of the most northern populations of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) on Borneo and is bisected by the Kinabatangan River, the longest river in Sabah. Orang-utan samples on either side of the river were strongly differentiated with a high Phi(ST) value of 0.404 (P < 0.001). Results also suggest an east-west gradient of genetic diversity and evidence for population expansion along the river, possibly reflecting a postglacial colonization of the Kinabatangan floodplain. We compared our data with previously published sequences of Bornean orangutans in the context of river catchment structure on the island and evaluated the general relevance of rivers as barriers to gene flow in this long-lived, solitary arboreal ape.

Effects of Pleistocene glaciations and rivers on the population structure of Bornean orangutans ( Pongo pygmaeus )

“…In both cases, very recent common ancestry could explain the incomplete mtDNA lineage sorting. For North Kinabatangan (NK) and SK, Jalil et al (27) proposed an expansion from a recent common refugium further west in Mount Kinabalu, as posited for other Bornean species (46,47,49). DV, with its low haplotype diversity, might also be the result of a recent range expansion.…”

“…We also sequenced low DNA quantity samples from GP (n = 20), where individual identification was done through long-term observational data. Additionally, haplotypes for individuals from SK (n = 38) and NK (n = 35) were from Jalil et al (27) (GenBank accession numbers EU547189-EU547201). Finally, we resequenced 21 extracts from the Bornean samples in Warren et al (17) to cover the same region of mtDNA (Table S2).…”

“…Third, the three Bornean subspecies (P. p. pygmaeus, P. p. wurmbii, P. p. morio), described on the basis of morphological characteristics (26), show unexplained genetic substructuring (17). Fourth, as for geographical features, the marked role of rivers as dispersal barriers has been highlighted in the study of populations in Sabah (27,28), but it remains to be seen whether other rivers have had similar vicariant effects. Thus, the relative importance of the Pleistocene sea level and vegetation changes, Toba eruptions, and rivers as dispersal barriers, against the background of regular dispersal behavior of orangutans, remains unknown.…”

Phylogenetic relationship betweenCallosciurus canicepsandC. inornatus(Rodentia, Sciuridae): Implications for zoogeographical isolation by the Mekong River

“…In chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1775), the Sanaga River in Cameroon geographically separates two subspecies (Gonder et al 1997(Gonder et al , 2006. The phylogeographical population structure of the orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus (Linnaeus, 1760) is bisected by the Kinabatangan River, Borneo (Jalil et al 2008). Consequently, geographical isolations by large rivers would be predictable to trigger the allopatric speciation (e.g.…”

Blood meal analysis of tabanid fly after it biting the rare Sumatran rhinoceros

“…This advancement had truly escalated the field of conservation biology particularly when dealing with rare and elusive, endangered, or cryptic fauna [1][2][3][5][6][7][8] .…”