1. The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment.
- Author
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Johnson, Warren E., Eizirik, Eduardo, Pecon-Slattery, Jill, Murphy, William J., Antunes, Agostinho, Teeling, Emma, and O'Brien, Stephen J.
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GENETICS , *MIOCENE stratigraphic geology , *RADIATION , *FELIDAE , *GENES , *CHROMOSOMES , *MITOCHONDRIA , *DNA , *CATS - Abstract
Modem 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 phytogeny 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2006
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