
@article {36276,
	title = {The critically endangered forest owlet Heteroglaux blewitti is nested within the currently recognized Athene clade: A century-old debate addressed.},
	journal = {PLoS One},
	volume = {13},
	year = {2018},
	month = {2018},
	pages = {e0192359},
	abstract = {<p>Range-restricted species generally have specific niche requirements and may often have unique evolutionary histories. Unfortunately, many of these species severely lack basic research, resulting in poor conservation strategies. The phylogenetic relationship of the Critically Endangered Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti has been the subject of a century-old debate. The current classifications based on non-phylogenetic comparisons of morphology place the small owls of Asia into three genera, namely, Athene, Glaucidium, and Heteroglaux. Based on morphological and anatomical data, H. blewitti has been alternatively hypothesized to belong within Athene, Glaucidium, or its own monotypic genus Heteroglaux. To test these competing hypotheses, we sequenced six loci (~4300 bp data) and performed phylogenetic analyses of owlets. Mitochondrial and nuclear trees were not congruent in their placement of H. blewitti. However, both mitochondrial and nuclear combined datasets showed strong statistical support with high maximum likelihood bootstrap (\&gt;/ = 90) and Bayesian posterior probability values (\&gt;/ = 0.98) for H. blewitti being nested in the currently recognized Athene group, but not sister to Indian A. brama. The divergence of H. blewitti from its sister taxa was between 4.3 and 5.7 Ma coinciding with a period of drastic climatic changes in the Indian subcontinent. This study presented the first genetic analysis of H. blewitti, a Critically Endangered species, and addressed the long debate on the relationships of the Athene-Heteroglaux-Glaucidium complex. We recommend further studies with more data and complete taxon sampling to understand the biogeography of Indian Athene species.</p>
},
	keywords = {Animals, Bayes Theorem, Conservation of Natural Resources, Endangered Species, Fossils, Phylogeny, Strigiformes},
	issn = {1932-6203},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0192359},
	author = {Koparde, Pankaj and Mehta, Prachi and Reddy, Sushma and Ramakrishnan, Uma and Mukherjee, Shomita and Robin, V V}
}
@article {25260,
	title = {Genetic Structure and Phylogeography of the Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) Inferred from Mitochondrial Genomes.},
	journal = {J Hered},
	volume = {108},
	year = {2017},
	month = {2017 06 01},
	pages = {349-360},
	abstract = {<p>The Leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis is a habitat generalist that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia. Based on morphological traits, this species has been subdivided into 12 subspecies. Thus far, there have been few molecular studies investigating intraspecific variation, and those had been limited in geographic scope. For this reason, we aimed to study the genetic structure and evolutionary history of this species across its very large distribution range in Asia. We employed both PCR-based (short mtDNA fragments, 94 samples) and high throughput sequencing based methods (whole mitochondrial genomes, 52 samples) on archival, noninvasively collected and fresh samples to investigate the distribution of intraspecific genetic variation. Our comprehensive sampling coupled with the improved resolution of a mitochondrial genome analyses provided strong support for a deep split between Mainland and Sundaic Leopard cats. Although we identified multiple haplogroups within the species{\textquoteright} distribution, we found no matrilineal evidence for the distinction of 12 subspecies. In the context of Leopard cat biogeography, we cautiously recommend a revision of the Prionailurus bengalensis subspecific taxonomy: namely, a reduction to 4 subspecies (2 mainland and 2 Sundaic forms).</p>
},
	keywords = {Animals, Asia, Southeastern, Biological Evolution, Cytochromes b, DNA, Mitochondrial, Felidae, Genetic Variation, Genetics, Population, Genome, Mitochondrial, Haplotypes, Phylogeography, Sequence Analysis, DNA},
	issn = {1465-7333},
	doi = {10.1093/jhered/esx017},
	author = {Patel, Riddhi P and Wutke, Saskia and Lenz, Dorina and Mukherjee, Shomita and Ramakrishnan, Uma and Veron, G{\'e}raldine and Fickel, J{\"o}rns and Wilting, Andreas and F{\"o}rster, Daniel W}
}
