The Phylogeny of the Cetartiodactyla Based on Complete Mitochondrial Genomes

Abstract

Efforts have been made to investigate the phylogeny of Cetartiodactyla; however, the relationships within this group still remain controversial. Due to the limitation of collecting samples from some key species of the Cetartiodactyla, it is difficult to perform molecular phylogenetic analysis to find out their precise classification scheme. Fortunately, much up-to-date, more molecular data samples of this group are available from GenBank. To further clarify the relationships within the Cetartiodactyla, phylogenetic analyses of the Cetartiodactyla were conducted using Bayesian and maximum likelihood (ML) methods based on complete mitochondrial genomes. The results indicate that Moschidae sister to Bovidae, and recognize the families Moschidae, Bovidae, Cervidae and Giraffidae to be four monophyletic groups. Phylogenetic trees also indicate that the basal divergence within the Cetartiodactyla is between the Suina and a strongly supported clade of the remaining Cetartiodactyla; Tragulidae is the early offshoot within the Ruminantia, followed by the Antilocapridae.