Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVAN), Leipzig, Germany.
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Commun Biol. 2021 Mar 5;4(1):283. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-01806-x.
Much like humans, chimpanzees occupy diverse habitats and exhibit extensive behavioural variability. However, chimpanzees are recognized as a discontinuous species, with four subspecies separated by historical geographic barriers. Nevertheless, their range-wide degree of genetic connectivity remains poorly resolved, mainly due to sampling limitations. By analyzing a geographically comprehensive sample set amplified at microsatellite markers that inform recent population history, we found that isolation by distance explains most of the range-wide genetic structure of chimpanzees. Furthermore, we did not identify spatial discontinuities corresponding with the recognized subspecies, suggesting that some of the subspecies-delineating geographic barriers were recently permeable to gene flow. Substantial range-wide genetic connectivity is consistent with the hypothesis that behavioural flexibility is a salient driver of chimpanzee responses to changing environmental conditions. Finally, our observation of strong local differentiation associated with recent anthropogenic pressures portends future loss of critical genetic diversity if habitat fragmentation and population isolation continue unabated.
与人类非常相似，黑猩猩栖息在多种多样的环境中，表现出广泛的行为变异性。然而，黑猩猩被认为是一个不连续的物种，有四个亚种被历史地理屏障隔开。尽管如此，它们在整个范围内的遗传连通性程度仍未得到很好的解决，主要是由于采样限制。通过分析一组在微卫星标记上进行扩增的地理上全面的样本集，这些标记可以反映最近的种群历史，我们发现，距离隔离解释了黑猩猩在整个范围内遗传结构的大部分原因。此外，我们没有发现与公认亚种相对应的空间不连续性，这表明一些亚种划分的地理障碍最近对基因流动是可渗透的。广泛的遗传连通性与行为灵活性是黑猩猩对环境变化做出反应的主要驱动力的假设是一致的。最后，我们观察到与最近人为压力相关的强烈的局部分化，如果栖息地破碎化和种群隔离继续不受阻碍，这预示着未来关键遗传多样性的丧失。
