MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF THE TRIBE BOVINI (MAMMALIA, ARTIODACTYLA) - ALTERNATIVE PLACEMENT OF THE ANOA

Noncoding regions from the genes encoding aromatase cytochrome P450 an d lactoferrin have been sequenced in ten bovine and one cervid species for an investigation of the evolutionary relationships within the tri be Bovini. The evolutionary rate of DNA-nucleotide alterations along t he ancestral bovine lineage amounts to 0.38% per million years, as est imated from this combined 0.478-kb-single copy nuclear (scn) DNA seque nce data set. Whereas rate homogenity is apparent within the Bovini, t he relative rate test suggests that the boselaphine lineage (as repres ented by Boselaphus) has evolved at only about one third of the rate f ound within the Bovini. Consistent with other results, the scnDNA data provide evidence for (i) a monophyletic origin of the Bovini, (ii) a sister group position of the Boselaphini, and (iii) two different clad es within the Bovini, the buffaloes (Bubalus and Syncerus) and the cat tle (Bos/Bibos and Bison). Surprisingly, the results indicate very cle arly that the enigmatic dwarf buffalo of Sulawesi Island (Anon depress icornis) is most closely related to Boselaphus and that the divergence from the true Bovini occurred close to the base of bovine cladogenesi s in the Middle Miocene (approximate to 14-12 million years ago).