Abstract

• Macaca fascicularis aurea (Burmese long-tailed macaque) is one of the ten subspecies of the long-tailed macaques and is distributed along the Andaman seacoast. In Mon and Kayin States, Myanmar, the macaques inhabit some isolated limestone mountains. To uncover the phylogeography of M. fascicularis aurea in Mon and Kayin States and its relationship with those of other areas, the hypervariable segment 1 of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was analysed using non-invasive faecal samples. Thirty-one sequences of M. fascicularis aurea were analysed; eight sequences from six populations in Mon State, seven sequences from three populations in Kayin State, four sequences from three populations at the Mergui Archipelago, and eleven sequences from three populations in the Thai Andaman seacoast. Both phylogenetic tree and haplotype network analyses revealed the presence of two mtDNA groups epresenting geographical differences: one group consisted of the populations from Mon and Kayin States, namely the mainland clade, and the other group consisted of the populations from the Mergui Archipelago and Thai Andaman seacoast, namely the coastal-island clade. Divergence time estimations suggested that M. fascicularis aurea initially diverged into the two clades one million years ago. Among the mainland clade, the divergence time of the most recent common ancestor was estimated to be four hundred thousand years ago. Three populations of Kayin State showed the same mtDNA haplotype and suggested a close maternal relationship. No spatial tendency was observed among the populations of Mon State. This study confirmed the close maternal genetic relationship among M. fascicularis aurea in Mon and Kayin States.