Evolutionary Distribution Changes of Sichuan Golden Monkeys (<scp><i>Rhinopithecus roxellana</i></scp>) in the Quaternary
Retrospective reconstruction of animals' evolutionary development and geographic changes in recent history, as well as monitoring contemporary conservation status, are critical to amending existing conservation strategies. This study presents an innovative effort, as demonstrated by the Sichuan golden monkeys (<i>Rhinopithecus roxellana</i>) in China. We studied their fossil distribution patterns during the Pleistocene, explored historical distribution changes over the last 400 years, and surveyed 27 nature reserves where they dwell. The results indicate that this species successfully dispersed from Southwest China to the rest of the mainland of East Asia along the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, reaching Taiwan during the Pleistocene, which marked the broadest geographic distribution in its evolutionary history. Unfortunately, its population began to shrink during the Holocene, leaving it currently restricted to the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei in China. Accordingly, we proposed four conservation strategies to amend its conservation status.
Authors
- He Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1832-8480)
- Fengyi Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5426-324X)
- Zhiming Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2176-0127)
- Shujun He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5635-8744)
- Hao Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6048-281X)
- Ruliang Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4467-2143)
- Chenfei Song
- Songtao Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8291-5487)
- Kang Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8357-117X)
- Baoguo Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2506-7597)
- Xiao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9130-5691)
- Haitao Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8132-3626)
- Zhihua Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-2922)
- Jing Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1109-341X)
- Gang He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6325-9269)
- Kexin Ji
- Wen-Yong Tian
- Jianbing Yue
Institutions
- China West Normal University (CN)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Northwest University (CN)
- Yanan University Affiliated Hospital (CN)
- Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve (CN)
- State Forestry and Grassland Administration (CN)
- Jiangxi Academy of Forestry (CN)
- Shaanxi Institute of Zoology (CN)
- Dali University (CN)
- Jiangxi Agricultural University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Ecology and Evolution
- Published
- 2025-09-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.72036
- Primary Topic
- Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of Oxford
- University of Western Australia
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Central South University
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration
- Central South University of Forestry and Technology
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Key Research and Development Projects of Shaanxi Province