Understanding the relationship between Alouatta Ululata and Alouatta Belzebul (Primates: Atelidae) based on cytogenetics and molecular phylogeny

Abstract

The genus Alouatta Lacépède 1799 comprises a group of neotropical primates distributed from southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Ten species of Alouatta occur in Brazil, including Alouatta belzebul (Linnaeus, 1766) and A. ululata Elliot, 1912; this latter being considered a full species, subspecies or a junior synonymous of A. belzebul. In order to clarify the relationship of A. ululata with A. belzebul and infer their relationships with other Alouatta species, karyotype and mitochondrial DNA data were analyzed. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out with a 801 bp fragment of cytochrome b DNA of one A. ululata sample and 33 sequences of A. belzebul, A. caraya, A. fusca, A. nigerrima, A. seniculus, and A. macconnelli available in GenBank, with Brachyteles arachnoides as outgroup. The G-band karyotype of a male A. ululata showed a diploid number of 49, similar to the one reported for A. belzebul, with the same pattern of autosome heteromorphism, apparently resulting from a Y-autosome translocation. Maximum- -likelihood and Bayesian analyses and median joining network did not show an internal structure among A. belzebul haplotypes and placed A. ululata haplotype within A. belzebul clade. Karyotypic and molecular analyses herein carried out did not allow the separation of A. ululata from A. belzebul. However, additional analysis with larger sample sizes may provide relevant information for this question.