Phylogeography of the Central american red brocket deer, Mazama temama (Artiodactyla, Cervidae) in southeastern Mexico

Abstract

Anthropogenic threats have increasingly isolated the populations of Mazama temama (Erxleben, 1777) and limited the gene flow in this species. Knowledge of the phylogeographic structure of this species is therefore essential for its conservation. Thus, in this study, we describe the phylogeographic structure of two M. temama populations of Veracruz and Oaxaca, Mexico. We sequenced the D-Loop region of the mitochondrial DNA of 16 individuals, in order to estimate the diversity and genetic differentiation (FST), Tajima’s D index, "Mismatch distribution" test; a phylogram and a haplotype network was constructed and we performed multidimensional scaling analysis to test the hypothesis of association between geographic distance and genetic diversity. The haplotypic and nucleotide diversity was high, indicating divergent populations (FST = 0.223), while the Tajima’s D index (-1,03300; P > 0.10) determined disequilibrium in the D-Loop region, derived from a population expansion that was evidenced in the "Mismatch distribution" test and confirmed with the haplotype network in the form of a star. Four lineages were identified in the phylogram (Veracruz n = 3, Oaxaca n = 1), evidencing geographic and reproductive isolation between the two populations. This was confirmed by the multidimensional scaling analysis, which evidenced recent evolutionary divergence between the populations analyzed, which are considered evolutionary units of conservation.