A CLADISTIC-ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIAL RIBOSOMAL DNA FROM THE BOVIDAE

There is a huge data base of genetic information for the domestic arti odactyl species Bos taurus (cow), Ovis aries (sheep), and Capra hircus (goat). However, the phylogenetic relationships of these economically critical taxa and their close relatives, family Bovidae, remain for t he most part unresolved. In this report, we aligned new mitochondrial (mt) 12S and 16S ribosomal (r) DNA sequences from 26 bovid taxa with p ublished sequences. Phylogenetic analyses of the more than 64 kilobase s of mt rDNA from 57 taxa support a basal division in the Bovidae that separates Bos and its close relatives from Capra, Ovis, and their gin . As suggested by previous molecular and morphological studies, ''ante lopes'' are a paraphyletic assemblage. Caprinae (sheep, goats, goat an telopes, and musk oxen) groups consistently with hippotragine and alce laphine antelopes, while Bovini (cattle and buffaloes) clusters with t ragelaphine and boselaphine antelopes. The traditional tribal subdivis ions of Bovidae are supported in most cases, but there are exceptions within Caprinae and Antilopinae (gazelles and close relatives). The rD NA data consistently place the enigmatic genera Pelea, Pantholops, and Saga, but the origin of Aepyceros, the impala, remains obscure. Combi ned phylogenetic analyses of the rDNA data with the skeletal character s of Gentry (1992) were used to assess the stability of the molecular results. (C) 1997 Academic Press.