Data from: Mitogenomics of the Old World monkey tribe Papionini

Background: The evolutionary history of the Old World monkey tribe Papionini comprising the genera Macaca, Mandrillus, Cercocebus, Lophocebus, Theropithecus, Rungwecebus and Papio is still matter of debate. Although the African Papionini (subtribe Papionina) are generally considered to be the sister lineage to the Asian Papionini (subtribe Macacina), previous studies based on morphological data, nuclear or mitochondrial sequences have shown contradictory phylogenetic relationships among and within both subtribes. To further elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among papionins and to estimate divergence ages we generated mitochondrial genome data and combined them with previously published sequences.
Results: Our mitochondrial gene tree comprises 33 papionins representing all genera of the tribe except Rungwecebus. In contrast to most previous studies, the obtained phylogeny suggests a division of the Papionini into three main mitochondrial clades with similar ages: 1) Papio, Theropithecus, Lophocebus; 2) Mandrillus, Cercocebus; and 3) Macaca; the Mandrillus + Cercocebus clade appears to be more closely related to Macaca than to the other African Papionini. Further, we find paraphyletic relationships within the Mandrillus + Cercocebus clade as well as in Papio. Relationships among Theropithecus, Lophocebus and Papio remain unresolved. Divergence ages reveal initial splits within the three mitochondrial clades around the Miocene/Pliocene boundary and differentiation of Macaca species groups occurred on a similar time scale as those found between genera of the subtribe Papionina.
Conclusion: Due to the largely well-resolved mitochondrial phylogeny, our study provides new insights into the evolutionary history of the Papionini. Results show some contradictory relationships in comparison to previous analyses, notably the paraphyly within the Cercocebus + Mandrillus clade and three instead of only two major mitochondrial clades. Divergence ages among species groups of macaques are similar to those among African Papionini genera, suggesting that diversification of the mitochondrial genome is of a similar magnitude in both subtribes. However, since our mitochondrial tree represents just a single gene tree that most likely does not reflect the true species tree, extensive nuclear sequence data is required to illuminate the true species phylogeny of papionins and to trace possible ancient hybridization events among lineages.

研究背景：包含猕猴属（Macaca）、山魈属（Mandrillus）、白眉猴属（Cercocebus）、狮尾猴属（Lophocebus）、狮尾狒属（Theropithecus）、伦圭猴属（Rungwecebus）以及狒狒属（Papio）的旧世界猴狒狒族（Papionini）的演化历史至今仍存在争议。尽管学界普遍认为非洲狒狒亚族（Papionina）是亚洲狒狒亚族（Macacina）的姊妹支系，但此前基于形态学数据、核序列或线粒体序列开展的研究，在两个亚族内部及二者之间的系统发育关系上均得出了相互矛盾的结果。为进一步阐明狒狒族类群的系统发育关系并估算分化时间，本研究生成了线粒体基因组数据，并将其与已发表的序列数据进行整合分析。

研究结果：本研究获得的线粒体基因树涵盖了33个狒狒族类群，代表了该族除伦圭猴属（Rungwecebus）外的所有现存属。与多数既往研究不同，本研究构建的系统发育树显示，狒狒族可划分为三个分化时间相近的主要线粒体支系：1）狒狒属（Papio）、狮尾狒属（Theropithecus）与狮尾猴属（Lophocebus）；2）山魈属（Mandrillus）与白眉猴属（Cercocebus）；3）猕猴属（Macaca）；其中山魈属+白眉猴属支系与猕猴属的亲缘关系，较其与其他非洲狒狒亚族类群的亲缘关系更近。此外，我们在山魈属+白眉猴属支系以及狒狒属内部均发现了并系演化关系。狮尾狒属、狮尾猴属与狒狒属三者间的系统发育关系仍未得到明确解析。分化时间估算结果显示，三个线粒体支系的初始分化发生在中新世/上新世交界时期，而猕猴属内各物种类群的分化时间尺度，与非洲狒狒亚族各属间的分化时间尺度相近。

研究结论：基于本研究获得的分辨率整体较好的线粒体系统发育树，我们的研究为狒狒族的演化历史提供了新的认识。本研究结果与既往分析存在若干矛盾之处，其中尤为显著的是白眉猴属+山魈属支系内的并系演化关系，以及将狒狒族划分为三个而非仅两个主要线粒体支系的结论。猕猴属内各物种类群间的分化时间与非洲狒狒亚族各属间的分化时间相近，这表明两个亚族的线粒体基因组分化程度相当。然而，由于本研究的线粒体树仅代表单基因树，极有可能无法反映真实的物种树，因此需要获取大量核序列数据，以阐明狒狒族真实的物种系统发育关系，并追踪类群间可能存在的古代杂交事件。