title: The rise and fall of a genus: Complete mtDNA genomes shed light on the phylogenetic position of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys, Lagothrix flavicauda, and on the evolutionary history of the family Atelidae (Primates: Platyrrhini).
abstract: Using complete mitochondrial genome sequences, we provide the first molecular analysis of the phylogenetic position of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, Lagothrix flavicauda (a.k.a. Oreonax flavicauda), a critically endangered neotropical primate endemic to northern Perú. The taxonomic status and phylogenetic position of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys have been debated for many years, but in this study both Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic reconstructions unequivocally support a monophyletic woolly monkey clade that includes L. flavicauda as the basal taxon within the radiation. Bayesian dating analyses using several alternative calibrations suggest that the divergence of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys from other Lagothrix occurred in the Pleistocene, ∼2.1Ma, roughly 6.5 my after the divergence of woolly monkeys from their sister genus, Brachyteles. Additionally, comparative analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 2 (COX2) gene shows that genetic distances between yellow-tailed woolly monkeys and other Lagothrix from across the genus' geographic distribution fall well within the range of between-species divergences seen in a large number of other platyrrhine primate genera at the same locus and outside the range of between-genus divergences. Our results thus confirm a position within Lagothrix for the yellow-tailed woolly monkey and strongly suggest that the name Oreonax be formally considered a synonym for this genus. This revision in taxonomic status does not change the dire conservation threats facing the yellow-tailed woolly monkey in Perú, where the remaining wild population is estimated at only ∼10,000 individuals living in a highly fragmented landscape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, New York University, USA; Primate Molecular Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, USA. Electronic address: anthony.difiore@austin.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Fiore
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, New York University, USA; Primate Molecular Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), USA.
authors.forename: Paulo B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.affiliation: Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, USA; Fundación Yunkawasi, Perú
authors.forename: Fanny M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Cornejo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, New York University, USA; Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Southern California, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Neotropical Primate Conservation, UK.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shanee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cortés-Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valéria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fagundes
authors.affiliation: Gene Bank of Primates and Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roos
authors.affiliation: Museo de Historia Natural, Departamento de Mastozoologia, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Perú
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pacheco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051077:Atelidae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010568:Peru; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013020:South America
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Dating analysis; Mitogenomics; New World monkeys; Oreonax; Phylogenetics; Yellow-tailed woolly monkey