"Molecular Systematics of the Genus Presbytis" by Badrul Munir Zain

Badrul Munir Zain

Deposited 2001

Abstract
The genus Presbytis (sensu stricto) has received little attention in the literature, perhaps because colobines in general have received less attention than most other primates, especially the cercopithecines and the apes. For this reason, systematic relationships among colobines are poorly defined, particularly in phylogenies based on molecular data.

With molecular genetic approaches, phylogenetic relationships of the members of the genus Presbytis were clarified. Those species included in this study were Presbytis hosei (Hose's leaf monkey), P. rubicunda (red or maroon leaf monkey), P. melalophos (banded leaf monkey), P. thomasi (Thomas's leaf monkey) and P. comata (Javan leaf monkey). A number of closely and more distantly related colobines and cercopithecines were used to accurately root the internal branches of all phylogenetic trees that resulted from the foregoing analyses. These latter “outgroup” taxa included representatives of the genera Trachypithecus, Nasalis, Pygathrix, Colobus and Macaca.

DNA sequences from both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA were used to infer the molecular systematics of Presbytis. Several markers from unlinked regions were selected to conduct molecular analyses including maternal mtDNA markers (ND3, ND4L, ND4 and tRNAs), paternal Y-chromosome markers (TSPY and SRY) and a biparental autosomal marker (IRBP intron-3). The broad findings are summarized as follows. First, Presbytis species form their own clade distinct from the genus Trachypithecus . Second, within the genus Presbytis, P. hosei, P. comata, P. thomasi, P. rubicunda and P. melalophos all sort out as distinct monophyletic clades. Without P. potenziani included, molecular phylogeographic analysis suggests a pattern of Presbytis dispersal that started in Borneo and spread to the western Sunda Shelf. Third, at the intraspecific level within the P. melalophos clade, femoralis, siamensis, robinsoni, mitrata and natunae all sort clearly into distinct groups and thus should be considered valid subspecies.