An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo

Borneo is one of the biodiversity hotspots that various studies on different taxa have been conducted since lots of endemic species were discovered. The evolution history such as the existence of refugia in Borneo has been identified as the main phenomenon for the high endemism of species. The in...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Nur Mukminah, Naharuddin
Format:	Thesis
Language:	English
Published:	2017
Subjects:	QL Zoology
Online Access:	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/23940/1/Nur%20Mukminah%20Naharuddin%20ft.pdf
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

id	my-unimas-ir.23940
record_format	uketd_dc
spelling	my-unimas-ir.239402023-05-19T02:25:28Z An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo 2017 Nur Mukminah, Naharuddin QL Zoology Borneo is one of the biodiversity hotspots that various studies on different taxa have been conducted since lots of endemic species were discovered. The evolution history such as the existence of refugia in Borneo has been identified as the main phenomenon for the high endemism of species. The informations on the ecology and molecular genetics are crucial for better understanding of the current distribution, sociobiology, conservation status and evolution during early stages of primate divergence. The study on the ecology and molecular genetics of the Western Tarsier, Cephalopachus bancanus, was conducted from year 2013 until 2016. A total of 49 individuals of C. bancanus were recorded from Sarawak and Sabah. Based on the results, C. bancanus is mainly found inhabiting mixed dipterocarp forest (MDF), kerangas forest and peat swamp forest. This is most probably due to the plenty of food resources and suitable vegetation conditions provided to C. bancanus. The frequency of the acoustic call for an individual of this species recorded in Mulu NP was 70 kHz. This study showed lack of morphological variations existing between the populations from the southern and central Sarawak. On the contrary, the individual from the northern Sarawak was isolated from that of the southern and central Sarawak. This was probably due to the vegetation and habitat differences and geographical barriers. The D-loop gene of 511 base pairs from a total of 30 individuals of C. bancanus was successfully sequenced. Besides, COI gene with the size of 399 base pairs from a total of 31 individuals of C. bancanus was sequenced. While Cyt b gene with the size of 288 base pairs from 22 individuals of C. bancanus was sequenced. The phylogenetic relationships inferred from these mitochondrial genes showed that all the sequences of C. bancanus in Sarawak formed a monophyletic group. Most of the C. bancanus sequences in Sarawak were in their unique haplotypes. Only individuals from southern and central Sarawak shared the same haplotype groups. The only individual from northern Sarawak population was in its unique haplotype group. There were no phylogeographic patterns being observed in Dloop, COI and Cyt b genes of the sequence samples of C. bancanus in Sarawak. Likewise, less variation observed in the genetic structure of C. bancanus among the population in Sarawak. The habitat fragmentation and habitat loss may restrict the migration of the C. bancanus. Hence, low gene flow was observed among the C. bancanus populations. The estimated divergence time of C. bancanus in Borneo was during the late Miocene epoch which is around 7 Mya. The dispersal of C. bancanus in Borneo is possibly affected by the harsh environment during late Miocene. For future study, more ecological parameters should be added and different molecular markers should be tested. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2017 Thesis http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/23940/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/23940/1/Nur%20Mukminah%20Naharuddin%20ft.pdf text en validuser masters Universiti Malaysia Sarawak Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation
institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
collection	UNIMAS Institutional Repository
language	English
topic	QL Zoology
spellingShingle	QL Zoology Nur Mukminah, Naharuddin An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo
description	Borneo is one of the biodiversity hotspots that various studies on different taxa have been conducted since lots of endemic species were discovered. The evolution history such as the existence of refugia in Borneo has been identified as the main phenomenon for the high endemism of species. The informations on the ecology and molecular genetics are crucial for better understanding of the current distribution, sociobiology, conservation status and evolution during early stages of primate divergence. The study on the ecology and molecular genetics of the Western Tarsier, Cephalopachus bancanus, was conducted from year 2013 until 2016. A total of 49 individuals of C. bancanus were recorded from Sarawak and Sabah. Based on the results, C. bancanus is mainly found inhabiting mixed dipterocarp forest (MDF), kerangas forest and peat swamp forest. This is most probably due to the plenty of food resources and suitable vegetation conditions provided to C. bancanus. The frequency of the acoustic call for an individual of this species recorded in Mulu NP was 70 kHz. This study showed lack of morphological variations existing between the populations from the southern and central Sarawak. On the contrary, the individual from the northern Sarawak was isolated from that of the southern and central Sarawak. This was probably due to the vegetation and habitat differences and geographical barriers. The D-loop gene of 511 base pairs from a total of 30 individuals of C. bancanus was successfully sequenced. Besides, COI gene with the size of 399 base pairs from a total of 31 individuals of C. bancanus was sequenced. While Cyt b gene with the size of 288 base pairs from 22 individuals of C. bancanus was sequenced. The phylogenetic relationships inferred from these mitochondrial genes showed that all the sequences of C. bancanus in Sarawak formed a monophyletic group. Most of the C. bancanus sequences in Sarawak were in their unique haplotypes. Only individuals from southern and central Sarawak shared the same haplotype groups. The only individual from northern Sarawak population was in its unique haplotype group. There were no phylogeographic patterns being observed in Dloop, COI and Cyt b genes of the sequence samples of C. bancanus in Sarawak. Likewise, less variation observed in the genetic structure of C. bancanus among the population in Sarawak. The habitat fragmentation and habitat loss may restrict the migration of the C. bancanus. Hence, low gene flow was observed among the C. bancanus populations. The estimated divergence time of C. bancanus in Borneo was during the late Miocene epoch which is around 7 Mya. The dispersal of C. bancanus in Borneo is possibly affected by the harsh environment during late Miocene. For future study, more ecological parameters should be added and different molecular markers should be tested.
format	Thesis
qualification_level	Master's degree
author	Nur Mukminah, Naharuddin
author_facet	Nur Mukminah, Naharuddin
author_sort	Nur Mukminah, Naharuddin
title	An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo
title_short	An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo
title_full	An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo
title_fullStr	An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo
title_full_unstemmed	An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo
title_sort	ecological and molecular study of elusive western tarsier cephalopachus bancanus in malaysian borneo
granting_institution	Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
granting_department	Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation
publishDate	2017
url	http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/23940/1/Nur%20Mukminah%20Naharuddin%20ft.pdf
_version_	1783728246412541952

An Ecological and Molecular Study of Elusive Western Tarsier Cephalopachus bancanus in Malaysian Borneo

Similar Items