Mitochondrial DNA from Myotragus balearicus, an extinct bovid from the Balearic Islands

DNA was extracted from teeth and bones of Myotragus balearicus, a bovid tha t evolved in isolation on the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean) from the end of the Miocene, becoming extinct 4,000 years BP, after the arrival of humans in the islands. The numerous morphological apomorphies of Myotra gus, most strikingly its dwarfism, frontal eyes, and ever-growing incisors, obscure its phylogenetic relationships with extant bovids. Therefore, the recovery of genetic information from Myotragus is of significant interest t o help clarify the taxonomic position of this species. In this study we amp lified and sequenced a 95 bp (base pair) fragment of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene from 6,000-year-old specimens of Myotragus. Several experimental cont rols, such as amino acid analysis, independent reproduction in two differen t laboratories, and cloning of the PCR product, support the authenticity of the ancient DNA sequence recovered. Phylogenetic comparison with orthologo us sequences from supposedly related extant genera (serow, goral, mountain goat, chamois, takin, sheep, goat, Himalayan tahr, arctic musk ox, barbary sheep, blue sheep, and saiga) from the Caprinae subfamily suggests that Myo tragus is related to some of these species. However, the real phylogenetic position of Myotragus is difficult to assess, due to the lack of resolution of the present molecular study, which can be partially attributed to the s hort length of the genetic fragment recovered. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.