MOLECULAR EVOLUTION OF MITOCHONDRIAL-12S RNA AND CYTOCHROME-B SEQUENCES IN THE PANTHERINE LINEAGE OF FELIDAE

DNA sequence comparisons of two mitochondrial DNA genes were used to i nfer phylogenetic relationships among 17 Felidae species, notably 15 i n the previously described pantherine lineage. The polymerase chain re action (PCR) was used to generate sequences of 358 base pairs of the m itochondrial 12S RNA gene and 289 base pairs of the cytochrome b prote in coding gene. DNA sequences were compared within and between 17 feli d and five nonfelid carnivore species. Evolutionary trees were constru cted using phenetic, cladistic, and maximum likelihood algorithms. The combined results suggested several phylogenetic relationships includi ng (1) the recognition of a recently evolved monophyletic genus Panthe ra consisting of Panthera lee, P. pardus, P. onca, P. uncia, P. tigris , and Neofelis nebulosa; (2) the recent common ancestry of Acinonyx ju batus, the African cheetah, and Puma concolor, the American puma; and (3 ) two golden cat species, Profelis temmincki and Profelis aurata, a re not sister species, and the latter is strongly associated with Cara cal caracal. These data add to the growing database of vertebrate mtDN A sequences and, given the relatively recent divergence among the feli ds represented here (1-10 Myr), allow 12S and cytochrome b sequence ev olution to be addressed over a time scale different from those address ed in most work on vertebrate mtDNA.