Historical Demography of an Endangered Salamander, Ranodon sibiricus (Amphibia, Urodela, Hynobiidae): A Reassessment.
Chinese populations of the endangered Siberian salamander Ranodon sibiricus are reported to have diverged only about 120 years ago, and to have the lowest genetic diversity of any amphibian. However, these conclusions require verification, as the main range of the species is in Kazakhstan. Moreover, the generation time used for estimating divergence time has a weak ground. In order to clarify these problems, we investigated the molecular phylogenetic relationship and historical demography of the species covering its whole distribution range using the mitochondrial DNA region reported for Chinese population (1072 bp sequences of the control region), while conducting skeletochronological analysis to estimate accurate generation time. As a result, the range expansion was estimated at 88,000-50,000 YA, based on the generation time of 6-10 years. Degree of intraspecific genetic differentiation is actually very small, but, as a single species, is not so small as had been reported for Chinese population alone.
1 Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Nihonmatsu-cho Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Kanto
K
Nishikawa
2 Institute of Zoology MES RK, Akademgorodok, al-Farabi Av., 93, Almaty 050060, Republic of Kazakhstan.|3 Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan, Beibitshilik Street, 18, Office 406, Astana 010000, Republic of Kazakhstan.
Tatjana
T
Dujsebayeva
1 Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida Nihonmatsu-cho Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Masafumi
M
Matsui
4 Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, National Museum of Nature and Science, 4-1-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan.
Natsuhiko
N
Yoshikawa
5 Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan.
Atsushi
A
Tominaga
D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D056727:Endangered Species / Q000266:history*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014562:Caudata / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
Ranodon sibiricus; age determination; biogeography; control region; mitochondrial DNA; salamander