Researchers are still discussing the classification of Nycticebus. We established a molecular phylogeny covering all recognized taxa in Nycticebus to provide information for further evaluation. We sequenced partial D-loop (ca. 390 bp) and cytochrome b genes (425 bp) from 22 specimens. We separated most of the major groups except for some mixing of Nycticebus. coucang coucang and N. bengalensis. Nycticebus pygmaeus diverged earlier from the ancestral stock than the other taxa. Nycticebus coucang menagensis was well discriminated from N. c. coucang. It may be possible to explain the mixing of Nycticebus coucang coucang and N. bengalensis by the hybridization between the 2 groups in the field. Although our data did not provide direct evidence for or against the new proposal that Nycticebus coucang javanicus be raised to the rank of a distinct species (N. javanicus), we have good evidence for regarding N. c. menagensis as a species.
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This work was supported by grants from national 973 project of China, National Natural Science 243 Foundation of China (30021004, 30430110), Natural Science Foundation of 244 Yunnan, and Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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Jing-Hua Chen and Deng Pan made equal contributions to the work.
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Chen, JH., Pan, D., Groves, C. et al. Molecular Phylogeny of Nycticebus Inferred from Mitochondrial Genes. Int J Primatol 27, 1187–1200 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9032-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-006-9032-5