Phylogeny and Conservation of Iberian Lynxes

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Phylogeny and Conservation of Iberian Lynxes

CAT NEWS
Issue 27, Autumn 1997

by Rosa Garcia-Perea*

Data offered by Beltrán et al. in a letter published in Nature (1996) are of interest because they provide information based on a new set of characters that support previously published hypotheses about the phylogenetic relationships among recent representatives of the genus Lynx (see Werdelin, 1987) and other felids (Wayne et al., 1989). Their molecular data also support the idea that population fragmentation may be decreasing the genetic variability of this species, such as Rodriguez and Delibes (1992) and Beltrán and Delibes (1993) have suggested earlier. Unfortunately, this is bad news for the conservation of the Iberian lynx.

In the letter, Beltrán et al. claim the demonstration of the monophyly of genus Lynx to be a relevant finding, and the taxonomic status of the Iberian lynx Lynx pardinus to be controversial. I feel surprise regarding these statements.

The question of the monophyly of genus Lynx is something that, to my knowledge, has never been questioned. In fact, the only reference mentioned by Beltrán et al. contrary to the Lynx monophyly is Salles (1992), but the consensus tree offered by that author (Fig. 52), the one he considers the best estimate of felid phylogeny, shows a monophyletic lynx group. Beltrán et al.'s findings are thus consistent with previous hypotheses based on morphological, karyological, behavioral, and molecular data (Werdelin, 1981; Hemmer, 1978; Herrington, 1985; Wayne et al., 1989; Leyhausen, 1979).

In my opinion, the most intersting phylogenetic question about genus Lynx is its relationships to the pantherines, specially to the large cats of genus Panthera. Several non-congruent hypotheses have been proposed about that topic, placing lynxes sometimes close to the species of Felis (Hemmer, 1978; Kratochvil, 1976), sometimes close to the pantherines (Herrington, 1985; Wayne et al., 1989; Janczewski et al., 1995). The latter hypotheses place Lynx either as the only sister group of Panthera, or sharing a clade with a variable number of species, all forming the sister group of Panthera. Unfortunately, Beltrán et al. included in their analysis neither the species of Panthera, nor Felis, nor other species interesting to test these phylogenetic hypotheses.

Another question to comment on is the claimed controversy about the taxonomic status of the Iberian lynx. Lynx pardinus was described by Temminck in 1827 (Felis pardina) as a species different to the lynx inhabiting the rest of Eurasia, Lynx lynx. Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) included the Iberian lynx as a subspecies of Lynx lynx, and most subsequent authors accepted that opinion. Werdelin's morphometric work (1981) raised again the question of the specific identity of Lynx pardinus, which is supported by paleontological and morphological evidences (Ficcarelli and Torre, 1975; Matjuschkin, 1978; Werdelin, 1990; Garcia-Perea, 1991, 1992, 1996). These evidences include the presence of unique developmental, morphometric and morphological patterns in the skeleton of Lynx pardinus compared with the three other living species, as well as the occurrence in sympatry of Lynx lynx and Lynx pardinus in southwestern Europe over the Pleistocene (both species are presently allopatric). Since 1993, a general agreement exists in considering Lynx pardinus as a separate species, and so is considered by the most recent reference books (Corbett and Hill 1992; Wilson and Reeder, 1993). This has also been accepted by conservation authorities (IUCN 1990; Nowell and Jackson 1996).

Rosa Garcia-Perea,
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Nat.,
c/J. Gutierrez Abascal, 2
Madrid 28006, Spain

References

Beltrán, J.F. and M. Delibes. 1993. Physical characteristics of Iberian lynxes (Lynx pardinus) from Doñana, southwestern Spain. J. Mamm. 74(4): 852-862

Beltrán, J.F., J.E. Rice and R.L. Honeycutt. 1996 Taxonomy of the Iberian lynx. Nature 379: 407-408

Corbet, G. and J.E. Hill. 1992 A World List of Mammalian Species. The Natural History Museum, London.

Ellerman, J.R. and T.C.S. Morrison-Scott. 1951. Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals. British Museum of Natural History, London. 810pp.

Ficcarelli, G. and D. Torre. 1975. Differenze craniometriche nelle linci attuali. Atti. Soc. Tosc. Sc. Nat. Ser. A 82: 1-19.

Garcia-Perea, R. 1991 Variabilidad mrfologica del genero Lynx Kerr, 1792 (carnivora, Felidae). Ph.D. dissertation. Univ Complutense, Madrid. 555pp.

Garcia-Perea, R. 1992. New data on the systematics of lynxes. Cat News 16: 15-16

Garcia-Perea, R. 1996. Patterns of postnatal development in skulls of lynxes, genus Lynx (Mammalia, Carnivora). J. Morphol. 229: 241-254

Hemmer, H. 1978. The evolutionary systematics of living Felidae: present status and current problems. Carnivore 1: 71-79

Herrington, S. 1986. Phylogenetic relationships of the wild cats of the world. Ph.D. dissertation. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence. 421pp.

IUCN. 1990. The 1990 Red List of Threatened Animals. The World Conservation Union, Gland. 228pp.

Janczewski, D.N.; W.S. Modi; J. Claiborne and S. O'Brien. 1995. Molecular evolution of mitochondrial 12s RNA and cytochrome b sequences in the pantherine lineage of Felidae Mol. Biol. Evol. 12(4): 690-707.

Kratochvil, J. 1976. Os penis der Gattung Panthera und das System der Felidae (Mammalia). Zool. Listy 25(4): 289-302.

Leyhausen, P. 1979. Cat Behaviour. Garland, New York. 340pp.

Matjuschkin, E.N. 1978. Der luchs Lynx lynx. Neue Brehm Buch. 517: 1-160.

Nowell, K. and P. Jackson Eds. 1996. Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan, compiled and edited by Kristin Nowell and Peter Jackson, IUCN, Gland. 382pp.

Rodriguez, A. and M. Delibes. 1992 El lince iberico Lynx pardina en Espana. Distribucion y prolemas de conservacion. ICONA Ser. Tecnica, Madrid. 116pp.

Salles, L. 1992. Felid phylogenetics: extant taxa and skull morphology (Felidae, Aeluroidea). American Museum Novitates 3047: 1-67.

Temminck, C.J. 1827. Monographies de Mammalogie I. Ed. D'Ocagne and Dufour, Paris. 268pp.

Wayne, R.K.; R.E. Benveniste; D.N. Janczewski and S.J. O'Brien. 1989 Molecular and biochemical evolution of the Carnivora: 465-494. In Carnivore Behavior, Ecology and Evolution. Ed. J. Gittleman. Chapman and Hall. London.

Werdelin, L. 1981. The evolution of lynxes. Ann. Zool. Fennici 18: 37-71

Werdelin, L. 1987. Supernumerary teeth in Lynx lynx and the irreversibility of evolution. J. Zool. London 211: 259-266.

Werdelin, L. 1990. Taxonomic Status of the Pardel Lynx. Cat News13:18.

Wilson, D.E. and D.M. Reeder Eds. 1993. Mammal species of the world. A taxanomic and geographic reference. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1206pp.

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