The complete mitochondrial genome of the Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster)

Abstract

Though extensive efforts have been made to investigate the phylogeny of the Cetartiodactyla, the relationships within the Cetartiodactyla, especially the position of the family Moschidae among Ruminantia families, still remain controversial. To further clarify these relationships, we sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the Alpine musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), which is an endemic endangered species from China. Then, we conducted molecular phylogenetic analyses of the Alpine musk deer and 49 other species on the basis of Bayesian and maximum likelihood methods. The results show that the Moschidae is the sister group of the Bovidae, both of which form a clade that clusters with the Cervidae. The cetaceans are nested within the Artiodactyla as the sister group of the Hippopotamidae. Among the musk deer, M. chrysogaster and M. berezovskii are more closely related to each other than to M. moschiferus.

Keywords::

• Moschus chrysogaster
• complete mitochondrial genome
• molecular phylogeny

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Guo Cai for sampling of M. chrysogaster.

Declaration of interest: This research was funded by National Science and Technology Support Project of China (2012BAC01B06). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.