title: Genetic Evidence for Contrasting Wetland and Savannah Habitat Specializations in Different Populations of Lions (Panthera leo).
abstract: South-central Africa is characterized by an archipelago of wetlands, which has evolved in time and space since at least the Miocene, providing refugia for animal species during Pleistocene arid episodes. Their importance for biodiversity in the region is reflected in the evolution of a variety of specialist mammal and bird species, adapted to exploit these wetland habitats. Populations of lions (Panthera leo) across south-central and east Africa have contrasting signatures of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes and biparental nuclear DNA in wetland and savannah habitats, respectively, pointing to the evolution of distinct habitat preferences. This explains the absence of genetic admixture of populations from the Kalahari savannah of southwest Botswana and the Okavango wetland of northern Botswana, despite separation by only 500 km. We postulate that ancestral lions were wetland specialists and that the savannah lions evolved from populations that were isolated during arid Pleistocene episodes. Expansion of grasslands and the resultant increase in herbivore populations during mesic Pleistocene climatic episodes provided the stimulus for the rapid population expansion and diversification of the highly successful savannah lion specialists. Our model has important implications for lion conservation.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa (Moore); School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK (Moore); AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (Cotterill); Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (C. W. Winterbach and H. E. K. Winterbach); CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia (O'Brien); and Oceanographic Center, 8000N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33004 (O'Brien). andy.moore.bots@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andy E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa (Moore); School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK (Moore); AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (Cotterill); Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (C. W. Winterbach and H. E. K. Winterbach); CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia (O'Brien); and Oceanographic Center, 8000N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33004 (O'Brien).
authors.forename: Fenton P D Woody
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Cotterill
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa (Moore); School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK (Moore); AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (Cotterill); Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (C. W. Winterbach and H. E. K. Winterbach); CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia (O'Brien); and Oceanographic Center, 8000N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33004 (O'Brien).
authors.forename: Christiaan W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Winterbach
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa (Moore); School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK (Moore); AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (Cotterill); Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (C. W. Winterbach and H. E. K. Winterbach); CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia (O'Brien); and Oceanographic Center, 8000N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33004 (O'Brien).
authors.forename: Hanlie E K
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Winterbach
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa (Moore); School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK (Moore); AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (Cotterill); Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (C. W. Winterbach and H. E. K. Winterbach); CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia (O'Brien); and Oceanographic Center, 8000N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33004 (O'Brien).
authors.forename: Agostinho
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Geology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa (Moore); School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK (Moore); AEON - Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa (Cotterill); Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (C. W. Winterbach and H. E. K. Winterbach); CIMAR/CIIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 177, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal (Antunes); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russia (O'Brien); and Oceanographic Center, 8000N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33004 (O'Brien).
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001902:Botswana; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D065948:Grassland; D006239:Haplotypes; D008045:Lions / Q000235:genetics*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Plio-Pleistocene climate change; geomorphic evolution; habitat specialization; lion phylogeography; mitochondrial DNA; wetland archipelago