6533b871fe1ef96bd12d18da

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Range Shifts of Mouse Lemurs in South-Eastern Madagascar: Evidence from Mitochondrial Genetic Data

Andreas HapkeAndreas HapkeTony B. D. AndrianaivoEmilienne RazafimahatratraMark Gligor

subject

Genetic diversityMicrocebus murinusMouse lemurbiologybiology.animalHaplotypeLittoral zoneLemurZoologybiology.organism_classificationSpatial distributionHypervariable region

description

The gray mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus, occurs mainly in dry forests in western Madagascar, but its distribution extends into humid littoral forests in the south-eastern Anosy Region. We sequenced the mitochondrial hypervariable region 1 for 282 M. murinus individuals from 13 south-eastern study sites. The spatial distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes and the varying genetic distances within two haplotype clades indicated a trend of decreasing genetic diversity towards the south-eastern margin of the range. Rufous mouse lemurs, Microcebus cf. rufus, have a complementary distribution in south-eastern Madagascar which does not overlap with that of M. murinus. Taken together, the spatial distribution of genetic diversity within M. murinus and the distinct ranges of the two species could indicate a recent expansion of gray mouse lemurs into littoral forests in south-eastern Madagascar.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2012-01-01
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4511-1_8