Tracking the Evolution of the Elusive Andean Mountain Cat (Oreailurus jacobita) from Mitochondrial DNA

Authors

• Warren E. Johnson, National Cancer Institute at Frederick
• Melanie Culver, National Cancer Institute at Frederick
• J. A. Iriarte, Servicio Agrı´cola y Ganadero - Santiago, Chile
• Eduardo Eizirik, National Cancer Institute at Frederick
• K. L. Seymour, Royal Ontario Museum - Toronto
• Stephen J. O'Brien, National Cancer Institute at FrederickFollow

ORCID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Heredity

ISSN

0022-1503

Publication Date

5-1998

Abstract

Rarely observed in the wild, the existence of the Andean mountain cat (Oreailurus jacobita) has been established based on only 3 skulls and 14 museum skins. The Andean mountain cat's evolutionary relationship to other felids based on morphological characters is largely contradictory, with evidence aligning it with South American small spotted cats (ocelot lineage) or alternatively with pantherine lineage felids. Here we describe the phylogenetic distinctiveness and placement of the Andean mountain cat using DNA extracted from pieces of nine independent pelt specimens, including one confiscated from a trapper in 1995. A phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from three rapidly evolving mitochondrial genes (16S rRNA, NADH-5, and ATP-8) indicate that the Andean mountain cat is a distinct species belonging to the ocelot lineage. Our findings suggest that the Andean mountain cat diverged from a common ancestor with the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) and margay (L. wiedii) and exhibits moderate levels of genetic variation.

Volume

89

Issue

3

First Page

227

Last Page

232

Comments

©1998 The American Genetic Association

NSUWorks Citation

Johnson, Warren E.; Melanie Culver; J. A. Iriarte; Eduardo Eizirik; K. L. Seymour; and Stephen J. O'Brien. 1998. "Tracking the Evolution of the Elusive Andean Mountain Cat (Oreailurus jacobita) from Mitochondrial DNA." Journal of Heredity 89, (3): 227-232. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/708