Mj. Osborne et al., Genetic distinctness of isolated populations of an endangered marsupial, the mountain pygmy-possum, Burramys parvus, MOL ECOL, 9(5), 2000, pp. 609-613
The mountain pygmy-possum, Burramys parvus, exists in isolated and fragment
ed populations in the Australian alps. To examine the degree of interpopula
tion divergence, mitochondrial cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit
2 (NADH2) sequences were obtained from samples representing all populations
of B. parvus. Three divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages were iden
tified which exhibited strong phylogeographical structure. This indicates t
he presence of three maternal clades corresponding to populations in the no
rthern, central and southern Australian alps. Molecular clock estimates sug
gest that the mtDNA lineages diverged from one another 420-680 thousand yea
rs ago. On this basis it is argued that B. parvus populations have probably
been isolated since the mid-Pleistocene, and that management should focus
on maintaining viable B. parvus populations in each of the three regional l
ocalities.