Abstract
We examined the degree of intraspecific differentiation of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb) of the Jungle Crow, Corvus macrorhynchos, in East and South Asia. We determined partial sequences of Cytb (336 base pairs in length) for 41 individuals from this region. A neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree based on the Cytb sequences showed four obvious haplotype groups: 1) the Russian Far East and northern Sakhalin, 2) southern Sakhalin and the Japanese islands excluding the Ryukyus, 3) Amamioshima, the Ryukyus and 4) Laos. These Cytb clusters were fundamentally similar to the morphological differentiation and existing classification of Jungle Crow subspecies. Thus, we concluded that genetic material was probably interchanged among Jungle Crow groups even with geographic isolation due to the presence of a strait or gulf between land areas. In some cases, haplotypes and corresponding subspecies appear to be distinct even without the help of visible geographic barriers. Such subdivision probably occurred in Sakhalin because of the different ways in which this island was populated.
