The tribe Cercopithecini is a large and colourful taxon of African primates. Together with the tribe Papionini, it belongs to the subfamily Cercopithecinae (Gray, 1821). Despite several studies carried on the present species of Cercopithecini (guenons and sister genera), up to date a strong and clear systematics is missing. The evolutionary relationships inside the tribe are controversial, as are the numbers of genera and species. This lack prevents our full comprehension of the evolution of the tribe. We decided to investigate the tribe Cercopithecini through the use of two methodologies: geometric morphometrics and cytogenetics. The geometric morphometric survey was conducted on 1126 crania and 1067 mandibles of 42 Catarrhini species to identify the most extreme differences in skull shape, to test the morphometric independence and validity of the taxa Chlorocebus and Allochrocebus and to investigate the existence of arboreal or terrestrial features on Cercopithecini skulls. Cytogenetic techniques were focused on the human chromosomes 20 and 21 synteny (HSA20/21) to investigate the reliability of the tribe and support the morphometric data. We recognized four clear sister genera inside the tribe, Allenopithecus, Erythrocebus, Miopithecus and Cercopithecus, which showed cranial differences mainly in facial bone height and neurocranial length. With respect to the mandibles, we noted that the length of the bodies and rami influenced the clustering of genera. Chlorocebus and Allochrocebus mildly differed from the morphometric shape of genus Cercopithecus skull in facial bone and mandibular rami heights but the morphometric cluster is the same. The clustering highlighted relies more on size and diet than on arboreal and terrestrial attitudes. From the karyological point of view, the widespread presence of the HSA20/21 synteny can be considered a proof of the correct grouping of the genera inside the tribe. The morphometric methodology is usually preferred for analyses between taxa with deep morphometric differences or long evolutionary distances. Nevertheless, the clustering of the tribe Cercopithecini in sister genera is supported by geometric morphometrics. Further, the sharing of cytogenetic features supports the reliability of the tribe.

LO BIANCO, S.L’IMPIEGO DELLA MORFOMETRIA GEOMETRICA E IL CONTRIBUTO DELLA CITOGENETICA NELLO STUDIO DELLA TRIBÙ CERCOPITHECINI (ORDINE PRIMATES).

L’IMPIEGO DELLA MORFOMETRIA GEOMETRICA E IL CONTRIBUTO DELLA CITOGENETICA NELLO STUDIO DELLA TRIBÙ CERCOPITHECINI (ORDINE PRIMATES)

LO BIANCO, Stefania

Abstract

The tribe Cercopithecini is a large and colourful taxon of African primates. Together with the tribe Papionini, it belongs to the subfamily Cercopithecinae (Gray, 1821). Despite several studies carried on the present species of Cercopithecini (guenons and sister genera), up to date a strong and clear systematics is missing. The evolutionary relationships inside the tribe are controversial, as are the numbers of genera and species. This lack prevents our full comprehension of the evolution of the tribe. We decided to investigate the tribe Cercopithecini through the use of two methodologies: geometric morphometrics and cytogenetics. The geometric morphometric survey was conducted on 1126 crania and 1067 mandibles of 42 Catarrhini species to identify the most extreme differences in skull shape, to test the morphometric independence and validity of the taxa Chlorocebus and Allochrocebus and to investigate the existence of arboreal or terrestrial features on Cercopithecini skulls. Cytogenetic techniques were focused on the human chromosomes 20 and 21 synteny (HSA20/21) to investigate the reliability of the tribe and support the morphometric data. We recognized four clear sister genera inside the tribe, Allenopithecus, Erythrocebus, Miopithecus and Cercopithecus, which showed cranial differences mainly in facial bone height and neurocranial length. With respect to the mandibles, we noted that the length of the bodies and rami influenced the clustering of genera. Chlorocebus and Allochrocebus mildly differed from the morphometric shape of genus Cercopithecus skull in facial bone and mandibular rami heights but the morphometric cluster is the same. The clustering highlighted relies more on size and diet than on arboreal and terrestrial attitudes. From the karyological point of view, the widespread presence of the HSA20/21 synteny can be considered a proof of the correct grouping of the genera inside the tribe. The morphometric methodology is usually preferred for analyses between taxa with deep morphometric differences or long evolutionary distances. Nevertheless, the clustering of the tribe Cercopithecini in sister genera is supported by geometric morphometrics. Further, the sharing of cytogenetic features supports the reliability of the tribe.
Cercopithecini; Guenons; Arboreal; Terrestrial; Geometric morphometrics; Shape; Crania and Mandibles; Cytogenetics; HSA20 and 21; Synteny.
LO BIANCO, S.L’IMPIEGO DELLA MORFOMETRIA GEOMETRICA E IL CONTRIBUTO DELLA CITOGENETICA NELLO STUDIO DELLA TRIBÙ CERCOPITHECINI (ORDINE PRIMATES).
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Tesi PhD_Lo Bianco.pdf

accesso aperto

Dimensione 32.6 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
32.6 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/162979
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact