Using the phylogeny and IUCN information, explain why prioritization of species
ID: 267669 • Letter: U
Question
Using the phylogeny and IUCN information, explain why prioritization of species in the light green “leopard cat lineage” might not be easy. Explain one other piece of information that would help with your decision. (Word limit for this question is 250 words)?
MYBP 5.0 North America 0.8 MYA Europe Middle miocene Asia Africa South America 10.0 Australia Late miocene 6.2 MYA 5.0 Early pliocene Late ? 8 Sea Level (m) Panthera Bay cat Caracal Ocelot ineage lineage ineage Lynx P uma Leopard Domestic lineage lineage cat lineage cat lineage NDS in GeneticsExplanation / Answer
In prioritization of species for conservation based on phylogeny, branches of phylogeny and evolutionary history of taxa is taken into consideration. The prioritization of speices is done such that its biological diversity is maintained in future and protection of one species does not pose a threat to other species This calculative decision is made based on the evolutionary history available for the species.
Leopard cat lineage, consisting of six Asian wild cats, originated in North America after first ice age about 8 to 10 million years ago (mya). Also, it is the second youngest lineage that became distinguishable around 6.2 mya. Their ancestors crossed back to Asia from North America during second ice age (seen from the phylogeny). Thus, now leopards cats occupy mainly Souther and Central Asia, and are listed as "Vulnerable" in IUCN Red List.
Based on the above explaination and the phylogeny, we can say that the evolutionary history of leopard cats is distributed in many areas across the world for different taxa and knowing this history is not an easy task. Hence, prioritization of leopard cat lineage is not easy.
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