Afrotherian phylogeny as inferred from complete mitochondrial genomes.
Afrotheria is a huge assemblage of various mammals encompassing six orders that were once classified as distantly related groups. This superordinal relationship may have resulted from the break-up of Gondowanaland followed by the isolation of the African continent between 105 and 40 million years ago. Although the monophyly of Afrotheria is well supported by recent molecular studies, the interrelationships within afrotherian mammals remain unclarified. In this study, we determined the sequence of the complete mitochondrial genomes of hyrax, golden mole, and elephant shrew. These sequences were compared with those of other eutherians to analyze the phylogenetic relationships among afrotherians and, in particular, those among paenungulates. Our mitochondrial genome analysis supports the monophyly of Tethytheria.
Murata
Yumie
Y
Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
Nikaido
Masato
M
Sasaki
Takeshi
T
Cao
Ying
Y
Fukumoto
Yukio
Y
Hasegawa
Masami
M
Okada
Norihiro
N
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008322:Mammals / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial