Pliocene and Pleistocene events shaping the genetic diversity within the central corridor of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest |
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Authors: | HELDER C RESENDE KARLA S C YOTOKO JACQUES H C DELABIE MARCO A COSTA SOFIA CAMPIOLO MARA G TAVARES LUCIO A O CAMPOS TÂNIA M FERNANDES‐SALOMÃO |
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Institution: | 1. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Vi?osa/UFV, Avenue. P.H. Rolfs, 36570‐000, Vi?osa, Minas Gerais, Brazil;2. Laboratório de Bioinformática e Evolu??o, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Vi?osa/UFV, Avenue. P.H. Rolfs, 36570‐000, Vi?osa, Minas Gerais, Brazil;3. These authors have contributed equally to this work.;4. Laboratório de Mirmecologia, Centro de Pesquisas do Cacau‐CEPLAC, Rod. Ilhéus/Itabuna, Km 22, 45600‐000, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil;5. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rod. Ilhéus/Itabuna km 16, 45650‐000, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil |
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Abstract: | Dinoponera lucida (Formicidae; Ponerinae) is an extinction‐threatened species of ant which is endemic in the central corridor of the Atlantic Forest. We used mitochondrial sequences of the Cox1, Cox2 and Cytb genes in order to infer some aspects of the evolutionary history and phylogeography of this ant. High genetic divergence and population structure were observed for the whole species. The current pattern of D. lucida diversity seems to be shaped during different geological times: middle Pliocene, early Pleistocene and mainly late Pleistocene, when the reduction of populations generated a structure pattern of the genetic variation of this species. Our data show that this structure results from the maintenance of populations of D. lucida within very small putative refuges to the south of the central Bahia refugium. We thus argue that, for some Atlantic forest endemic species, especially those resistant to very small fragments of forest, such as D. lucida, the small putative refuges were as important as, or even more important than, larger and stable refuges for the creation and maintenance of diversity, adding another piece to the puzzle of the mechanisms underlying local endemism. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101 , 949–960. |
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Keywords: | Atlantic Forest diversification Dinoponera lucida giant queenless ant phylogeography Pleistocene refuge theory Ponerinae |
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