ÿþThe puma is puma shoes an iconic predator that ranges throughout the Americas, occupying diverse habitats. Previous phylogeographic analyses have revealed that it exhibits moderate levels of genetic structure across its range, with few of the classically recognized subspecies being supported as distinct demographic units. Moreover, most of the species' molecular diversity was found to be in South America. To further investigate the phylogeographic structure and demographic history of pumas we analyzed mtDNA sequences from 186 individuals sampled throughout their range.

Our objectives were to refine the phylogeographic assessment within South America and to investigate the demographic history of pumas using a coalescent approach. Our results extend previous phylogeographic findings, reassessing the delimitation of historical population units puma trainers in South America and demonstrating that this species experienced a considerable demographic expansion in the Holocene, ca. 8,000 years ago. Our analyses indicate that this expansion occurred in South America.

Prior to the hypothesized re-colonization of North America, which puma suede was therefore inferred to be even more recent. The estimated demographic history supports the interpretation that pumas suffered a severe demographic decline in the Late Pleistocene throughout their distribution, followed by population expansion and re-colonization of the range, initiating from South America.The puma ( Puma concolor Linnaeus, 1771) is a large felid that ranges throughout the Americas.

However, since the credibility interval of this estimate slightly overlaps the timing of the GABI, this issue is still not puma sliders fully settled. Interestingly, Barnett et al. (2005) provided molecular evidence indicating that the extinct North American felid Miracinonyx trumani is the puma's closest relative, with a divergence time estimated at 3.19 MYA. This finding would support the hypothesis of a North American origin for the puma, with subsequent colonization of South America by this species.

Indicating that most of the species' historical subdivision occurred in that subcontinent. In addition, the genetic diversity within South America was found to be larger than in Central and North America, suggesting that pumas from the latter subcontinent actually derive from a recent re-colonization event, following extinction in North America in the Late Pleistocene (ca. 10,000 12,000 years ago).Within the mtDNA, the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 ( ND5 ) gene has been successfully puma uk used in phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies of felids and other carnivores ( e.g. Culver et al.

We initially examined the mtDNA fragments used in previous studies, especially those involving Neotropical felids ( e.g. Eizirik et al. , 1998 , 2001 ; Johnson et al. , 1998 , 1999 ; Culver et al. , 2000 ). We selected the ca. 750 bp-long fragment of the ND5 gene reported by Trigo et al. (2008) , thus considerably increasing the information content derived from this marker relative to the previous phylogeographic study of the puma ( Culver et al. , 2000 ). Finally.