Molecular phylogenetics of two neotropical carnivores, Potos flavus (Procyonidae) and Eira barbara (Mustelidae): No clear existence of putative morphological subspecies

This is the first preliminary study on the molecular systematics within Potos flavus(Procyonidae) and in Eira barbara (Mustelidae). To carry out this work, 24 samples of P.flavus, representing three putative different populations (megalotus, chapadensis and theWestern Amazon), and 68 samples of E. barbara, representing the five putativesubspecies present in South America, were sequenced at the mtCyt-b gene for the firstspecies and at the mtCyt-b and mtNADH-5 genes for the second species. The main resultsobtained were as follows: 1- Both species showed high levels of mitochondrial genediversity, especially E.barbara; 2- Within the kinkajou, the specimens representingmegalotus and the Western Amazon populations, belong to a unique population whereaschapadensis in Bolivia, represented another different population. Within the tayra, onlytwo subspecies seem to be molecularly "real" (sinuensis, peruana, madeirensis andbarbara were unified in barbara, whereas poliocephala from French Guyana could be asecond differentiated subspecies in South America); 3- The mitochondrial diversificationprocess of P. flavus in South America seems to have occurred in the last 3 million yearand even in the last 40,000 years, although the phylogenetic branch of Potos seems to bevery old (21-24 million years ago following Koepfli et al., 2007). Contrarily, the mitochondrial diversification process in E.barbara was older, occurring around 7-8.2million years ago. This could point out that the tayra diversification process was in NorthAmerica or this mustelid was an "island hopper" following Simpson (1980) and migratedinto South America before the complete formation of the Panamanian land bridge, 3million years ago; 4- The different mitochondrial diversification peaks in both specieswere correlated with climatic changes during the Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene.