Phylogenetic relationships of Mesoamerican spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi): Molecular evidence suggests the need for a revised taxonomy

• Published in: Molecular phylogenetics and evolution 2015-01, Vol.82, p.484-494
• Main Authors: Morales-Jimenez, Alba Lucia, Cortés-Ortiz, Liliana, Di Fiore, Anthony
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Ateles; Ateles geoffroyi; Atelinae - classification; Atelinae - genetics; Bayes Theorem; Biological Evolution; Central America; Chromosome Mapping; D-loop; Divergence time; DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics; Geography; Likelihood Functions; Mesoamerica; Mexico; Mitochondrial DNA; Models, Genetic; Paniscus; Phylogenetic analysis; Phylogeny; Primates; Sequence Analysis, DNA
• ISSN: 1055-7903; 1095-9513
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.08.025

[Display omitted] •Phylogenetic analysis of HV1 of Ateles geoffroyi revealed three main clades.•Little concordance between lineages and recognized subspecies of Ateles geoffroyi.•A. g. vellerosus and A. g. yucatanensis are not genetically distinct.•Endangered spider monkeys from the Azuero peninsula form a monophyletic clade.•Samples from El Salvador do not belong to the vellerosus/yucatanensis clade. Mesoamerican spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi sensu lato) are widely distributed from Mexico to northern Colombia. This group of primates includes many allopatric forms with morphologically distinct pelage color and patterning, but its taxonomy and phylogenetic history are poorly understood. We explored the genetic relationships among the different forms of Mesoamerican spider monkeys using mtDNA sequence data, and we offer a new hypothesis for the evolutionary history of the group. We collected up to ∼800bp of DNA sequence data from hypervariable region 1 (HV1) of the control region, or D-loop, of the mitochondrion for multiple putative subspecies of Ateles geoffroyi sensu lato. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian reconstructions, using Ateles paniscus as an outgroup, showed that (1) A. fusciceps and A. geoffroyi form two different monophyletic groups and (2) currently recognized subspecies of A. geoffroyi are not monophyletic. Within A. geoffroyi, our phylogenetic analysis revealed little concordance between any of the classifications proposed for this taxon and their phylogenetic relationships, therefore a new classification is needed for this group. Several possible clades with recent divergence times (1.7–0.8Ma) were identified within Ateles geoffroyi sensu lato. Some previously recognized taxa were not separated by our data (e.g., A. g. vellerosus and A. g. yucatanensis), while one distinct clade had never been described as a different evolutionary unit based on pelage or geography (Ateles geoffroyi ssp. indet. from El Salvador). Based on well-supported phylogenetic relationships, our results challenge previous taxonomic arrangements for Mesoamerican spider monkeys. We suggest a revised arrangement based on our data and call for a thorough taxonomic revision of this group.