The complete mitochondrial genome structure of the jaguar (Panthera onca)

Abstract

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest felid in the Western hemisphere, and the only member of the Panthera genus in the New World. The jaguar inhabits most countries within Central and South America, and is considered near threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. This study represents the first sequence of the entire jaguar mitogenome, which was the only Panthera mitogenome that had not been sequenced. The jaguar mitogenome is 17,049 bases and possesses the same molecular structure as other felid mitogenomes. Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) were used to determine the phylogenetic placement of the jaguar within the Panthera genus. Both BI and ML analyses revealed the jaguar to be sister to the tiger/leopard/snow leopard clade.

• Complete mitogenome
• jaguar
• Panthera

Acknowledgements

We would also like to thank Stephen Gaughran for help initiating the project, and Dr. Gustavo A. Gutiérrez Espeleta of the University of Costa Rica for helping with sample collection.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. The authors would like to thank the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History for providing funding for this project.