Biology Faculty Articles

Title

The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-6-2006

Publication Title

Science

ISSN

0036-8075

Volume

311

Issue/No.

5757

First Page

73

Last Page

77

Abstract

Modern felid species descend from relatively recent (<11 million years ago) divergence and speciation events that produced successful predatory carnivores worldwide but that have confounded taxonomic classifications. A highly resolved molecular phylogeny with divergence dates for all living cat species, derived from autosomal, X-linked, Y-linked, and mitochondrial gene segments (22,789 base pairs) and 16 fossil calibrations define eight principal lineages produced through at least 10 intercontinental migrations facilitated by sea-level fluctuations. A ghost lineage analysis indicates that available felid fossils underestimate (i.e., unrepresented basal branch length) first occurrence by an average of 76%, revealing a low representation of felid lineages in paleontological remains. The phylogenetic performance of distinct gene classes showed that Y-chromosome segments are appreciably more informative than mitochondrial DNA, X-linked, or autosomal genes in resolving the rapid Felidae species radiation.

Comments

©2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science

Additional Comments

Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia grant #: SFRH/BPD/5700/2001; National Cancer Institute grant #: N01-CO-12400

ORCID ID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

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