IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Wei, L.; Wu, X.; Zhu, L.; Jiang, Z. | |
| Mitogenomic analysis of the genus _Panthera_ | |
| 2011 Science China (54): 917-930 | |
The complete sequences of the mitochondrial DNA genomes of _Panthera tigris_, _Panthera pardus_, and _Panthera uncia_ were determined using the polymerase chain reaction method. The lengths of the complete mitochondrial DNA sequences of the three species were 16990, 16964, and 16773 bp, respectively. Each of the three mitochondrial DNA genomes included 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA, two rRNA, one O(L)R, and one control region. The structures of the genomes were highly similar to those of _Felis catus_,_ Acinonyx jubatus_, and _Neofelis nebulosa_. The phylogenies of the genus Panthera were inferred from two combined mitochondrial sequence data sets and the complete mitochondrial genome sequences, by MP (maximum parsimony), ML (maximum likelihood), and Bayesian analysis. The results showed that Panthera was composed of_ Panthera leo, P. uncia_, _P. pardus, Panthera onca, P. tigris_, and N. nebulosa, which was included as the most basal member. The phylogeny within Panthera genus was _N. nebulosa _(_P. tigris_ (_P. onca_ (_P. pardus_, (_P. leo, P. uncia_)))). The divergence times for Panthera genus were estimated based on the ML branch lengths and four well-established calibration points. The results showed that at about 11.3 MYA, the Panthera genus separated from other felid species and then evolved into the several species of the genus. In detail, N. nebulosa was estimated to be founded about 8.66 MYA,_ P. tigris_ about 6.55 MYA, _P. uncia_ about 4.63 MYA, and P. pardus about 4.35 MYA. All these estimated times were older than those estimated from the fossil records. The divergence event, evolutionary process, speciation, and distribution pattern of _P. uncia_, a species endemic to the central Asia with core habitats on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and surrounding highlands, mostly correlated with the geological tectonic events and intensive climate shifts that happened at 8, 3.6, 2.5, and 1.7 MYA on the plateau during the late Cenozoic period. |
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