Preliminary Report on Classification Status of The White-Headed Langur Inferred from Random Amiplified Polymorphism DNA

The classification of the white-headed langur has remained controversial.Tan (1957) proposed that the white-headed langur,discovered by Tan in 1952 in southwestern Guangxi Autonomous Region,be a new species Presbytis leucocephalus.Li and Ma (1980) recognized the white-headed langur as a subspecies of P.francoisi based on a field survey of the geographical distribution of both the Francois langur and the white-headed langur in southern Guangxi Autonomous Region.Lu and Huang (1993) found that altitude coincides with habitat use,and separates Francois langur from white-headed langurs.So they distinguished the langur as separate species.All of viewpoints mentioned above are mainly based on gross morphological features and geographical distribution.Random amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD) of 2 T.phayrei,1 T.vetulus,1 Semnopithecus entellus and 6 T.francoisi,and 3 white-headed langurs were analyzed in order to clarify the classification status of the whiteheaded langur.A total of 30 10-mer arbitrary primers were used and 22 of which generate clear bands.The phylogenetic tree constructed on the basis of genetic distance shows that the whole tree should be sorted into two clusters:(1)T.phayrei and (2)T.f.leucocephalus and T.francoisi.Our results show that T.francoisi and T.f.leucocephalus are more closely related to each other than to T.phayrei.The T.francoisi and T.f.leucocephalus are not monophyletic groups.However,T.francoisi.2,3,6 are more closely related to T.f.leucocephalus 1,2,3 than to T.francoisi 1,4,5.Students s test was performed among groups based on the phylogenetic tree.The statistic tests show that T.f.leucocephalus is different from T.francoisi at 5% significant level and the group T.f.leucocephalus 1,2,3,T.francoisi.2,3,6 is different from group T.francoisi1,4,5 at 5% significant level.The other three groups are not different from each other at 5% significant level.Our phylogenetic tree and students test results suggest that a genetic differentiation exists in T.francoisi and T.f.leucocephalus at a low level.Considering the morphological features and geographical distribution,we think that the whiteheaded langur might be a subspecies.A gene flow may exist between the white-headed langur and Francois langur in recent years.