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Da Silva Santos, A.; Trigo, T.C.; de Oliveira, T.G.; Silveira, L.; Eizirik, E.
Phylogeographic analyses of the pampas cat (_Leopardus colocola_; Carnivora, Felidae) reveal a complex demographic history
2019  Genetics and Molecular Biology (41): 273-283

The pampas cat is a small felid that occurs in open habitats throughout much of South America. Previous studies have revealed intriguing patterns of morphological differentiation and genetic structure among its populations, as well as molecular evidence for hybridization with the closely related _L. tigrinus_. Here we report phylogeographic analyses encompassing most of its distribution (focusing particularly on Brazilian specimens, which had been poorly sampled in previous studies), using a novel dataset comprising 2,143 bp of the mitogenome, along with previously reported mtDNA sequences. Our data revealed strong population strutucture and supported a west-to-east colonization process in this species' history. We detected two population expansion events, one older (ca. 200 thousand years ago [kya]) in western South America and another more recent (ca. 60-50 kya) in eastern areas, coinciding with the expansion of savanna environments in Brazil. Analyses including _L. tigrinus_ individuals bearing introgressed mtDNA from _L. colocola_ showed a complete lack of shared haplotypes between species, indicating that their hybridization was ancient. Finally, we observed a close relationship between Brazilian/Uruguayan _L. colocola_ haplotypes and those sampled in _L. tigrinus_, indicating that their hybridization was likely related to the demographic expansion of _L. colocola_ into eastern South America.

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