Systematics of the Southeast Asian mongooses (Herpestidae, Carnivora): solving the mystery of the elusive collared mongoose and Palawan mongoose GÉRALDINE VERON 1 *, MARIE-LILITH PATOU 1† , REGIS DEBRUYNE 2 , ARNAUD COULOUX 3 , DESAMARIE ANTONETTE P. FERNANDEZ 4 , SIEW TE WONG 5 , JÉROME FUCHS 1 and ANDREW P. JENNINGS 1‡ 1 UMR 7205 ISYEB, CNRS MNHN UPMC EPHE, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 51, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France 2 UMS CNRS MNHN 2700, Outils et Méthodes de la Systématique Intégrative, Département Systématique & Evolution, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 26, 57 Rue Cuvier 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France 3 Genoscope, Centre National de Séquençage, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, CP 5706, 91057 Evry Cedex, France 4 Animal Biology Division, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines 5 Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center, PPM 219, Elopura, 90000 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia Received 22 February 2014; revised 27 June 2014; accepted for publication 29 August 2014 Although recent molecular studies have clarified the phylogeny of mongooses, the systematics of the Southeast Asian species was incomplete as the collared mongoose Urva semitorquata and some debatable taxa (Hose’s mon- goose, Palawan mongoose) were missing in the analyses. We sequenced three mitochondrial (cytochrome b, ND2, control region) and one nuclear (beta-fibrinogen intron 7) fragments of the Southeast Asian mongooses to clarify the systematic position of the different species and populations occurring in this region. Our results showed that the collared mongoose is closely related to the crab-eating mongoose Urva urva, these two species forming a sister- group to the short-tailed mongoose Urva brachyura. Despite Sumatran collared mongooses having a peculiar orange phenotype, we showed that they exhibited very little genetic divergence to individuals from Borneo. In contrast, the populations of the short-tailed mongoose from Borneo were strongly divergent to those from Peninsular Ma- laysia and Sumatra, and these might represent separate species. Within the crab-eating mongoose, we observed little geographical genetic structure. Our study suggests that Hose’s mongoose is not a valid species. The Palawan mongooses did not cluster with the other populations of the short-tailed mongoose; they were closer to the col- lared mongoose and should be included in this species. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 173, 236–248. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12206 ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: biogeography – Borneo – molecular systematics – Sumatra – Urva. INTRODUCTION Mongooses (Carnivora, Herpestidae) are small- bodied carnivores that are found in Africa and Asia (Gilchrist et al., 2009). They occur in a broad range of habitats and display a wide range of social *Corresponding author. E-mail: veron@mnhn.fr †Present address: Biotope, Recherche & Développement – 22 boulevard du Maréchal Foch – BP58 – 34140 Mèze, France. ‡Present address: SMALL CARNIVORES – Research and Con- servation, 83 St. Lawrence Street, Portland, Maine, USA. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 173, 236–248. With 5 figures © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 173, 236–248 236 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/173/1/236/2453097 by guest on 18 June 2020