Phylogeography of Puma concolor in Argentine Patagonia: tools for its management and conservation

MAC ALLISTER M.E.; FIGUEROA, C.E.; ACOSTA, D.B.; MERINO M.L.; TUNEZ, J.I.; TRAVAINI, A.; FERNÁNDEZ, G.P.

Congreso; 100th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists; 2021

The puma (Puma concolor) has the widest distribution of any native mammal in the western hemisphere. In Patagonia, it faces two main threats: habitat degradation and human conflict. Both genetic and taxonomical knowledge should be improved to inform proper management decisions on this top predator. We are identifying and characterizing patterns of genetic variability in Patagonia populations through the use of mitochondrial molecular markers. From the analysis of 59 individuals for a concatenation of fragments of ND5 gene (623bp) and the control region (353bp), 5 mitochondrial haplotypes were found (Hd = 0.441 ± 0.052; Pi = 0.00282 ± 0.00173). Using a Bayesian approach, two phylogenetic clades were identified (posterior probability = 1) in which the populations of Neuquén, Chubut, and Santa Cruz provinces were grouped in one clade and those from northern Buenos Aires province were located in the other. North of Rio Negro and South of Buenos Aires, a region proposed as the northern and southern limit of the distribution for the P. concolor puma and P. concolor cabrerae subspecies, respectively, individuals belonging to both phylogenetic clades were found. These results are essential for the definition of Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) and Management Units (MUs) for the species.