Freak Felids - A Discussion of History's Largest Felines

[Ngala]

Comprehensive species set revealing the phylogeny and biogeography of Feliformia (Mammalia, Carnivora) based on mitochondrial DNA Zhou, Wang & Ma, 2017

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Fig 2. Chronogram and ancestral area reconstructions of Feliformia.
(A) Major changes in global sea levels modified from Haq et al. [56]. Epoch abbreviations are as follows: Paleocene (Pal); Eocene (Eoc); Oligocene (Oli); Miocene (Mio); Pliocene (Pli). (B) Continental elevation map. Contemporary distribution ranges of Feliformia are divided into six clearly defined areas: A, Europe and North Asia; B, South Asia; C, Africa; D, Madagascar; E, North America; F, South America. The circles with numbers represent lowland plains: ① Nile Valley, ② Mesopotamian Plain, and ③ Indo-Gangetic Plain. © Chronogram and ancestral area reconstructions of Feliformia. Fourteen time constraints used in the molecular dating are shown as red triangles. Red branch with black arrows indicates dispersal events. Blue horizontal bars represent 95% HPD intervals. At the top right, a color-coded square represents the six main regions corresponding to continental elevation Map (A). Less than 0.95 branch support values are indicated beside the nodes. The red dash lines on black circles represent vicariance events.

Abstract:
"Extant Feliformia species are one of the most diverse radiations of Carnivora (~123 species). Despite substantial recent interest in their conservation, diversification, and systematic study, no previous phylogeny contains a comprehensive species set, and no biogeography of this group is available. Here, we present a phylogenetic estimate for Feliformia with a comprehensive species set and establish a historical biogeography based on mitochondrial DNA. Both the Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogeny for Feliformia are elucidated in our analyses and are strongly consistent with many groups recognized in previous studies. The mitochondrial phylogenetic relationships of Felidae were for the first time successfully reconstructed in our analyses with strong supported. When divergence times and dispersal/vicariance histories were compared with historical sea level changes, four dispersal and six vicariance events were identified. These vicariance events were closely related with global sea level changes. The transgression of sea into the lowland plains between Eurasia and Africa may have caused the vicariance in these regions. A fall in the sea level during late Miocene to Pliocene produced the Bering strait land bridge, which assisted the migration of American Feliformia ancestors from Asia to North America. In contrast with the ‘sweepstakes hypothesis’, our results suggest that the climate cooling during 30–27 Ma assisted Feliformia migration from the African mainland to Madagascar by creating a short-lived ice bridge across the Mozambique Channel. Lineages-through-time plots revealed a large increase in lineages since the Mid-Miocene. During the Mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum, the ecosystems and population of Feliformia rapidly expanded. Subsequent climate cooling catalyzed immigration, speciation, and the extinction of Feliformia." Reply