Takacs, Z.; Morales, J. C.; Geissmann, T. & Melnick, D. 2001: Molecular phylogeny of Hylobatidae. In: The XVIIIth congress of the International Primatological Society: Primates in the new millennium. Abstracts and programme, Adelaide, South Australia, p. 393.

Molecular phylogeny of Hylobatidae

Z. Takacs, J. C. Morales, T. Geissmann & D. Melnick

Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

The gibbons are among the most endangered primates and their evolutionary history remains largely unresolved. We have genotyped a 2.3 Kb segment of the mitochondrial ND3, ND4L and ND4 regions (56 samples) and a 1.6 Kb segment of the nuclear IRBP3 region (10 samples) from a total of 56 individuals representing 10 of the 11 species of Hylobatidae, including all four subgenera. Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that, each of the four subgenera recognized for the gibbons is monophyletic
1. Nomascus forms the most basal branch of gibbons
2. H. moloch and H. klossii form a monophyletic clade
3. H. agilis is paraphyletic with respect to H. muelleri and H. lar.

Further analysis of the mitochondrial sequence data in biogeographical context suggests that
1. the earliest differentiation of Hylobatidae occured in Indochina, and
2. that there was a dispersal of the lar group east into the Sundaland followed by a possible secondary dispersal of the H. lar species back into Indochina.