Species Delimitation in the Genus Moschus (Ruminantia: Moschidae) and Its High-Plateau Origin

The authenticity of controversial species is a significant challenge for systematic biologists. Moschidae is a small family of musk deer in the Artiodactyla, composing only one genus, Moschus. Historically, the number of species in the Moschidae family has been debated. Presently, most musk deer spe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2015-08, Vol.10 (8), p.e0134183-e0134183
Main Authors: Pan, Tao, Wang, Hui, Hu, Chaochao, Sun, Zhonglou, Zhu, Xiaoxue, Meng, Tao, Meng, Xiuxiang, Zhang, Baowei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Animals
Biogeography
Bioinformatics
Biological evolution
Deer
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
Endangered & extinct species
Engineering
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Evolutionary genetics
Genetics
Genomes
Genomics
Geological time
Historical account
Interglacial periods
Laboratories
Life sciences
Mitochondria
Mitochondria - genetics
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular chains
Moschidae
Moschus berezovskii
Moschus chrysogaster
Moschus fuscus
Moschus leucogaster
Moschus moschiferus
Orogeny
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Phylogeography
Pliocene
Ruminants - classification
Ruminants - genetics
Sequence Analysis, DNA - methods
Species
Tibet
Uplift
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Summary:The authenticity of controversial species is a significant challenge for systematic biologists. Moschidae is a small family of musk deer in the Artiodactyla, composing only one genus, Moschus. Historically, the number of species in the Moschidae family has been debated. Presently, most musk deer species were restricted in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding/adjacent areas, which implied that the evolution of Moschus might have been punctuated by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau. In this study, we aimed to determine the evolutionary history and delimit the species in Moschus by exploring the complete mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) and other mitochondrial gene. Our study demonstrated that six species, M. leucogaster, M. fuscus, M. moschiferus, M. berezovskii, M. chrysogaster and M. anhuiensis, were authentic species in the genus Moschus. Phylogenetic analysis and molecular dating showed that the ancestor of the present Moschidae originates from Tibetan Plateau which suggested that the evolution of Moschus was prompted by the most intense orogenic movement of the Tibetan Plateau during the Pliocene age, and alternating glacial-interglacial geological eras.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0134183