PATTERNS OF GENETIC VARIATION IN THE LITTLE SPIDERHUNTER (ARACHNOTHERA LONGIROSTRA) IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The aim of this study was to determine the intraspecifi c genetic variation of the mtDNA control region of the little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra). Sixty-two individuals representing individuals collected from southern Thailand, peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Palawan and Mindanao were sequenced, and 508 nucleotides of mtDNA-sequence were compared. Little differentiation was found between peninsular Malaysian and Bornean populations. However Thailand, Palawan and Mindanao populations were distinctly different from the core Sundaic populations. The pattern of divergence among the little spiderhunter populations is congruent with hypothesized land connection and separation during LGM in Southeast Asia, and it is likely that the Bornean and peninsular Malaysian populations probably underwent a recent population expansion. This study also revealed that long-term separation of subregions and islands (e.g., the Philippines from the Greater Sunda islands) promoted substantial differentiation among some of the little spiderhunter populations.