Phylogeography of the heavily poached African common pangolin (Pholidota, Manis tricuspis) reveals six cryptic lineages as traceable signatures of Pleistocene diversification

Knowledge on  faunal diversification in  African rainforests remains scarce.  We  used phylogeography to assess (i) the  role  of Pleistocene climatic oscillations in  the  diversi- fication of  the  African common pangolin  (Manis   tricuspis) and  (ii)  the  utility of  our multilocus approach for  taxonomic delineation  and  trade tracing of  this  heavily poa- ched   species. We  sequenced 101  individuals for  two  mitochondrial DNA   (mtDNA), two  nuclear DNA   and   one  Y-borne   gene   fragments (totalizing 2602 bp).  We  used a time-calibrated, Bayesian inference phylogenetic framework and  conducted character- based, genetic and  phylogenetic delineation of species hypotheses within African com- mon  pangolins. We  identified six  geographic lineages partitioned into  western Africa, Ghana, the  Dahomey Gap,  western central Africa,  Gabon and  central Africa,  all diverg- ing  during the  Middle to  Late  Pleistocene.  MtDNA  (cytochrome b + control region) was  the  sole  locus  to  provide diagnostic characters for  each  of  the  six  lineages. Tree- based Bayesian delimitation methods using single- and   multilocus  approaches gave high  support  for   ‘species’   level   recognition  of   the   six   African common pangolin lineages. Although the  diversification of  African common pangolins occurred during Pleistocene cyclical  glaciations, causative correlation with traditional rainforest refugia and  riverine barriers in  Africa  was  not  straightforward. We  conclude on  the  existence of six cryptic lineages within African common pangolins, which might be of major rel- evance  for   future  conservation  strategies.  The   high  discriminative  power  of   the mtDNA markers used in  this  study should allow an  efficient molecular tracing of the regional origin of African common pangolin seizures.

Auteurs: Philippe Gaubert, Flobert N Jiokou, Gabriel N Gua, Kolman Afiademanyo, Sylvain N Ufour, Jean  Malekani, Sery Gonedele    B I , christelle Tougard, Ayodeji  O Layemi, Emmanuel  Danquah, Chabi  A .  M. S .  Djagoun, Prince  Kaleme, Casimir Nebesse Mololo , William  Stanley, Shu-Jin  Luo and Agostinho  Antunes