The sampling scheme matters: Pan troglodytes troglodytes and P. t. schweinfurthii are characterized by clinal genetic variation rather than a strong subspecies break.

ABSTRACT: Populations of an organism living in marked geographical or evolutionary isolation from other populations of the same species are often termed subspecies and expected to show some degree of genetic distinctiveness. The common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is currently described as four geographically delimited subspecies: the western (P. t. verus), the nigerian-cameroonian (P. t. ellioti), the central (P. t. troglodytes) and the eastern (P. t. schweinfurthii) chimpanzees. Although these taxa would be expected to be reciprocally monophyletic, studies have not always consistently resolved the central and eastern chimpanzee taxa. Most studies, however, used data from individuals of unknown or approximate geographic provenance. Thus, genetic data from samples of known origin may shed light on t

SUBMITTER: Funfstuck T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4692250 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature