Evolutionary history and distribution of African wildcat, Felis lybica in Iran

Wildcat, Felis lybica is one of the least-known cat species in Iran, in spite of the widespread distribution in the country. The molecular overview of the species using concatenated two mitochondrial markers (Cyt b, NADH5) with sampling throughout the range of the species in the country was examined. Mitochondrial DNA analysis and geographical distribution of the haplotypes indicated two well-supported subclades in the study area, comprising Asiatic wildcat, F. lybica ornata and African wildcat, F. lybica lybica (FST = 0.65; p-value < 0.001). Time-calibrated Bayesian phylogenetic analysis revealed divergence time between F. l. ornata and F. l. lybica dates to 340,000 years ago (HPD 95%: 192,000-489,000 years ago). Based on the results of dating phylogenetic tree, Central Asia is the origin area for distribution of Felis genus (Domestic Cat lineage). On the other hand, wildcat moved out of Central Asia towards Western Asia, Europe and Africa. Given estimated divergence times of less than one million years ago among wildcat subspecies, it seems that Pleistocene climatic fluctuations may have led to the diversification of this taxon. As our study does not prove hybridization between wildcat and its domestic congeners, further investigations should focus on this remarkable threatening factor.