PHYLOGENETIC RECONSTRUCTION OF SOUTH-AMERICAN FELIDS DEFINED BY PROTEIN ELECTROPHORESIS

Phylogenetic associations among six closely related South American fel id species were defined by changes in protein-encoding gene loci. We a nalyzed proteins isolated from skin fibroblasts using two-dimensional electrophoresis and allozymes extracted from blood cells. Genotypes we re determined for multiple individuals of ocelot, margay, tigrina, Geo ffroy's cat, kodkod, and pampas cat at 548 loci resolved by two-dimens ional electrophoresis and 44 allozyme loci. Phenograms were constructe d using the methods of Fitch-Margoliash and neighbor-joining on a matr ix of Nei's unbiased genetic distances for all pairs of species. Resul ts of a relative-rate test indicate changes in two-dimensional electro phoresis data are constant among all South American felids with respec t to a hyena outgroup. Allelic frequencies were transformed to discret e character states for maximum parsimony analysis. Phylogenetic recons truction indicates a major split occurred approximately 5-6 million ye ars ago, leading to three groups within the ocelot lineage. The earlie st divergence led to Leopardus tigrina, followed by a split between an ancestor of an unresolved trichotomy of three species (Oncifelis guig na, O. geoffroyi, and Lynchailuris colocolo) and a recent common ances tor of Leopardus paradalis and L. wiedii. The results suggest that mod ern South American felids are monophyletic and evolved rapidly after t he formation of the Panama land bridge between North and South America .