Filogenia, biogeografia e história evolutiva dos macacos-prego, gênero Sapajus Kerr, 1792 (Primates: Cebidae)

Abstract

In a recent study, using ecological, morphological and molecular data, Cebus and Sapajus were recognized as two distinct genera. Although Sapajus is one of the most studied genera of Neotropical primates, it has one of the most confusing taxonomic histories among Neotropical mammals. Until recently, there was little information in the literature about the origin and diversification of the species assigned to the genus Sapajus. Despite recently published studies on the subject, there is still no robust hypothesis about the origin and evolution of this group. In this study, our first aim was to examine capuchin monkey diversification using the most taxonomically and geographically complete molecular dataset to date for the group. We reconstruct a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny for capuchins under Bayesian inference from three mitochondrial genes (D-loop, Cytb e COI). Our results support vicariance between ancestral populations in the Andes and Amazon (ancestral Cebus) versus the Atlantic Forest (ancestral Sapajus), and a Pleistocene “Amazon invasion” by Sapajus that explains the present day sympatry of Cebus and Sapajus. Our second aim was to assemble the first phylogenomic data set for robust capuchin monkeys using ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) and construct a complete phylogeny for the genus. We extracted SNPs from the UCE data set, and we created phylogenies using Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood methods. Our analyses provide strong support for Cebus and Sapajus as two reciprocally monophyletic clades. Within Sapajus, our SNPs trees recovered six species: S. xanthosternos, S. robustus, S. nigritus, S. flavius, S. libidinosus and S. apella (including S. cay and S. macrocephalus). As morphological and molecular subdivisions of the Amazonian group are discordant, we recommend lumping all Amazonian and southern grassland robust capuchin taxa as S. apella without subspecies.