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The Evolutionary History and Genetic Diversity of Kinkajous, Potos flavus (Carnivora, Procyonidae)

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Abstract

The genus Potos (Procyonidae) is currently recognized as a monotypic genus comprising the single species Potos flavus, the kinkajou. Kinkajous are widely distributed throughout forested habitats of tropical Central and South America, extending from eastern Brazil across central Bolivia, eastern Peru, northern Ecuador, Guianas, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, and then through Central America and into western Mexico. The taxonomic history of the species is complex, with seven or eight subspecies historically recognized to acknowledge the phenotypic variation among populations. In this study, the systematics and the evolutionary history of Potos flavus were investigated based on the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b, including specimens from a large range of localities, covering most of the distribution of the species, from central Middle America (Costa Rica and Panama) through South America (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, and French Guiana). Analyses of 30 Potos flavus sequences showed 27 haplotypes that were grouped in five main clades in all phylogenetic analyses. These clades suggested a high geographic structure with specimens from (1) Costa Rica, (2) Guianas and North Brazil, (3) North Peru, (4) Ecuador and Panama, (5a) interfluves Branco-Negro rivers in the Brazilian Amazon, (5b) Eastern Atlantic Forest, (5c) Amazonian lowlands east Negro river including Bolivia, Peru, and West Brazil. Each of these clades differs from 4.5 % to 9.3 % in their genetic distance estimates, which suggests that the specific status of some of these lineages should be reconsidered. Divergence dating and biogeographic analysis suggested that crown Potos diversified in the Miocene-Pliocene in South America, and geographic barriers, such as savannas and rivers, may have played a significant role in the kinkajou diversification.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all persons who kindly donated samples for the present work: R. Kays (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Nature Research Center, USA), J. Eger (Royal Ontario Museum, Canada), Jim Patton and Chris Conroy (Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley), Joe Cook and Jon Dunnum (Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico), and Yuri Leite (Universidade Federal do Espiríto Santo, Brazil). We also would like to thanks Y. Leite for his comments on early versions of this manuscript. We appreciated the facilities provided by FUNASA in Barcelos (Brazil, Amazonas) and staffs of Viruá national park (Brazil, Roraima). The collaboration in fieldwork by J.A. de Oliveira, L.F. de Oliveira, A. Junqueira was most useful. Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) granted license to collect the specimens. This work was supported by CNPq (Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia, Brazil) productive fellowship to CRB; FAPERJ (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, E-26/201.200/2014) to CRB; the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) – National Science Foundation (grant number EF-0905606) and the Royal Society and British Academy (Newton International Fellowship grant number NF140338) to FFN. GV thanks the ‘Service de Systématique Moléculaire’, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (CNRS UMS 2700); and JSB acknowledges a Faculty Research Award from Texas Tech University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    F. F. Nascimento

  2. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, Durham, NC, USA

    F. F. Nascimento

  3. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    M. Oliveira-Silva & C. R. Bonvicino

  4. Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205 CNRS MNHN UPMC EPHE, Paris, France

    G. Veron

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

    J. Salazar-Bravo

  6. Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento Socioambiental de Macaé, Macaé, Brazil

    P. R. Gonçalves

  7. Department of Systematics and Ecology, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil

    A. Langguth

  8. Instituto de Pesquisas Científicas e Tecnológicas do Estado do Amapá, Macapá, Brazil

    C. R. Silva

  9. Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    C. R. Bonvicino

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  1. F. F. Nascimento
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Nascimento, F.F., Oliveira-Silva, M., Veron, G. et al. The Evolutionary History and Genetic Diversity of Kinkajous, Potos flavus (Carnivora, Procyonidae). J Mammal Evol 24, 439–451 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-016-9354-9

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