Natural and Anthropogenic Hybridization in Two Species of Eastern Brazilian Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus and C. penicillata)

Animal hybridization is well documented, but evolutionary outcomes and conservation priorities often differ for natural and anthropogenic hybrids. Among primates, an order with many endangered species, the two contexts can be hard to disentangle from one another, which carries important conservation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2015-06, Vol.10 (6), p.e0127268-e0127268
Main Authors: Malukiewicz, Joanna, Boere, Vanner, Fuzessy, Lisieux F, Grativol, Adriana D, de Oliveira E Silva, Ita, Pereira, Luiz C M, Ruiz-Miranda, Carlos R, Valença, Yuri M, Stone, Anne C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Admixtures
Animals
Anthropogenic factors
Biodiversity
Bioinformatics
Brazil
Breeding
Callithrix
Callithrix - genetics
Callithrix jacchus
Callithrix penicillata
Conservation
Endangered species
Evolution
Gene flow
Genetic diversity
Genetic markers
Genomes
Human influences
Hybridization
Hybridization, Genetic
Hybrids
Interspecific
Microsatellites
Mitochondrial DNA
Monkeys & apes
Population
Primates
Rivers
Social change
Species diversity
Trends
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Animal hybridization is well documented, but evolutionary outcomes and conservation priorities often differ for natural and anthropogenic hybrids. Among primates, an order with many endangered species, the two contexts can be hard to disentangle from one another, which carries important conservation implications. Callithrix marmosets give us a unique glimpse of genetic hybridization effects under distinct natural and human-induced contexts. Here, we use a 44 autosomal microsatellite marker panel to examine genome-wide admixture levels and introgression at a natural C. jacchus and C. penicillata species border along the São Francisco River in NE Brazil and in an area of Rio de Janeiro state where humans introduced these species exotically. Additionally, we describe for the first time autosomal genetic diversity in wild C. penicillata and expand previous C. jacchus genetic data. We characterize admixture within the natural zone as bimodal where hybrid ancestry is biased toward one parental species or the other. We also show evidence that São Francisco River islands are gateways for bidirectional gene flow across the species border. In the anthropogenic zone, marmosets essentially form a hybrid swarm with intermediate levels of admixture, likely from the absence of strong physical barriers to interspecific breeding. Our data show that while hybridization can occur naturally, the presence of physical, even if leaky, barriers to hybridization is important for maintaining species genetic integrity. Thus, we suggest further study of hybridization under different contexts to set well informed conservation guidelines for hybrid populations that often fit somewhere between "natural" and "man-made."
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0127268