Fig 1.
Map with the localities of the samples used in this study from wild populations of the three Mexican primate species.
Spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) localities are indicated with yellow rhomboids, mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) with red circles, black howler monkeys (A. pigra) with blue circles, and hybrids (A. palliata x A. pigra) with blue/red triangles; localities where we sampled both A. palliata and A. geoffroyi are shown with yellow/red rhomboids. The inserts respectively depict the sampling sites in Los Tuxtlas region (top left) and in the howler’s hybrid zone (bottom right). Historical distributions of the three species are projected in different colors [104]. Information of geostatistical boundaries was obtained from a public domain source [http://www.conabio.gob.mx/informacion/gis/] and the map was created by us using QGIS 3.22.10 software. Names of regions are shown with black letters: TUX: Los Tuxtlas, UXP: Uxpanapa, PICH: Pichucalco, COM: Comalcalco, MAC: Macuspana, ESC: Escárcega, PLAG: Punta Laguna. Localities in Los Tuxtlas region: MP1: Montepío, ZAP: Zapoapan, PL: Playa, MAG: Magallanes, VA: Valentina, MIP: Mirador Pilapa. Localities in the hybrid region: NB: Nicolás Bravo, CG1: Carlos Green 1, CG2: Carlos Green 2, AB: Agua Blanca, FSA: Finca Santa Ana (see S1 Table). Black monkey silhouettes obtained from the open source, freely available at https://www.phylopic.org/images/aceb287d-84cf-46f1-868c-4797c4ac54a8/ateles-fusciceps; and https://www.phylopic.org/images/564c9708-bedb-4c1c-afc7-307f416901f0/alouatta-caraya.
Fig 2.
Relative abundance graphs representing diversity of gut bacteria from wild populations of the three Mexican primates: spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), black howler monkey (A. pigra), and howlers hybrid individuals.
(a) Phylum composition and (b) genus composition filtered by > 5% abundance. Each bar represents a sampled locality (see S1 Table for locality names) grouped by species. The different taxa of bacteria are depicted by different colors, with corresponding names shown on the right. Black monkey silhouettes obtained from the open source, freely available at https://www.phylopic.org/images/aceb287d-84cf-46f1-868c-4797c4ac54a8/ateles-fusciceps; and https://www.phylopic.org/images/564c9708-bedb-4c1c-afc7-307f416901f0/alouatta-caraya.
Fig 3.
Venn diagrams showing the number of unique and shared ASVs of the gut microbiota of the three Mexican primates: spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), black howler monkey (A. pigra); and the Alouatta hybrids.
(a) global diversity; (b-e) ASVs of the most abundant bacteria phyla; (f) ASVs of Archaea. Black monkey silhouettes obtained from the open source, freely available at at https://www.phylopic.org/images/aceb287d-84cf-46f1-868c-4797c4ac54a8/ateles-fusciceps; and https://www.phylopic.org/images/564c9708-bedb-4c1c-afc7-307f416901f0/alouatta-caraya.
Fig 4.
Gut microbiota diversity of wild populations of the three species of Mexican primates: spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) individual samples indicated with yellow circles, mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata) in red, black howler monkey (A. pigra) in blue; Alouatta hybrid individuals in green.
Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on Unifrac unweighted PCoA dissimilarities (a) for the three host species and hybrids and (b) for the Alouatta species and their hybrids, indicating the geographic locality. (c) Gamma phylodiversity profile based on Hill numbers with q values from 0 to 2 for each species. Significant statistical differences among species are shown in the box graphs for q = 1 (insert left graph) and q = 2 (right). Black monkey silhouettes obtained from the open source, freely available at https://www.phylopic.org/images/aceb287d-84cf-46f1-868c-4797c4ac54a8/ateles-fusciceps; and https://www.phylopic.org/images/564c9708-bedb-4c1c-afc7-307f416901f0/alouatta-caraya.
Table 1.
Permanova test results for the (a) Unifrac unweighted and (b) weighted distances of the gut microbiota between the three Mexican primate host species (Alouatta pigra, A. palliata, Ateles geoffroyi) and Alouatta hybrid individuals.
Table 2.
Diversity based on Hill numbers of the gut microbiota of wild populations of the Mexican primates partitioned by individual (α), species, and global (ϒ). Values indicate the hierarchical partitioning of (a) diversity and (b) phylodiversity. Numbers in black represent the average number of effective (a) ASVs and (b) lineages in terms of q values (q = 0 richness or number of taxa/lineages, q = 1 abundant taxa/lineages, q = 2 dominant taxa/lineages; [74]), while numbers in gray depict the effective number of individuals (β1) and effective number of species (β2).
Fig 5.
Differential abundance of the gut microbiota of the three Mexican primates (Alouatta palliata, A. pigra, Ateles geoffroyi) and Alouatta hybrids.
Log fold changes of the microbial communities at family level calculated with the Ancom-bc analysis between paired host species. The color gradient (scale on the right) indicates the overrepresented taxa in red and the underrepresented taxa in blue. Black monkey silhouettes obtained from the open source, freely available at https://www.phylopic.org/images/aceb287d-84cf-46f1-868c-4797c4ac54a8/ateles-fusciceps; and https://www.phylopic.org/images/564c9708-bedb-4c1c-afc7-307f416901f0/alouatta-caraya.