The phylogenetic position of Daubentonia madagascariensis (Gmelin, 1788; primates, Strepsirhini) as revealed by chromosomal analysis

Abstract

One of the major topics in primate evolution is the phylogenetic position of the bizarre Daubentonia madagascariensis (DMA, aye-aye). The principal points that have been discussed for many decades are whether the aye-aye is: (i) the sister group of primates; (ii) the sister group of strepsirhines; or (iii) the sister group of lemurs. Very little is known about Daubentonia evolution, particularly on the chromosomal background. The present report focuses on the chromosomal history of this species. We used available chromosome painting data as the main source to identify conserved chromosomes, chromosomal segments and syntenic associations that have characterized the aye-aye karyotype. The dataset includes 47 characters that have been subjected to a concatenated analysis using maximum parsimony (MP) and Bayesian inference (BI). Both MP and BI topologies show Daubentonia as an independent monophyletic lineage, sister group of all other Strepsirhini. Further, both trees have weak statistical support as result of the high number of autapomorphies and homoplasies that have characterized the history of this group of species.