Titre |
Ancient DNA from Megaladapis edwardsi (Malagasy subfossil): preliminary results using partial cytochrome b séquence. |
Résumé |
At least 16 species of extinct lemurs have been found in different regions of Madagascar. Some of these subfossils (late Pleistocene and Holocene) existed as recently as 500 years before the present. Among this group, the genus Megaladapis was defined as an ecological analogue to the koala rather than to other primates [1]and is proposed by Schwartz and Tattersall [2]to be the sister taxon of the extant genus Lepilemur, the Megaladapidae family thus containing two subfamilies: the Megaladapinae and the Lepilemurinae. Recently, using molecular data, Yoder et al. [3]suggested grouping Megaladapis with Paleopropithecus (another subfossil), both forming a clade that is basal to all lemuriforms except Daubentonia. In their study, Megaladapis appears to belong to an independent lemuriform lineage, rather than forming a clade with Lepilemur, which is in agreement with the classification proposed by Rumpler and Rakotosamimanana [4].Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel. |