关键词: 线粒体基因组, 系统发育分析, 草兔

Abstract: Despite its wide distribution and abundant wild populations,there has been little insight into the phylogeography of the Chinese cape hare (Lepus capensis)and its relationships with other hare species. Moreover,its subspecies taxonomic status has been under debate for years. In present study,we reporte the complete mitochondrial genomic sequence of the cape hare from Yancheng City,Jiangsu Province,China,and that the gene composition / order of which were identical to that observed in most other mammals. Phylogenetic relationships of 12 species from five orders of Euarchontoglires,based on mitogenomic sequences,were reconstructed using Bayesian inference (BI)and maximum likelihood (ML)methods.
The results strongly supported the monophyly of Lagomorpha,and cape hare and brown hare (L. europaeus)were indicated as sister taxa,having a sister relationship with rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Further phylogenetic analyses of 31 hare samples,based on complete Cyt b sequences,resolved the close phylogenetic relationships between cape hare and mountain hare (L. timidus),Yunnan hare (L. comus)and woolly hare (L. oiostolus),Manchurian hare (L. mandschuricus)and Yarkand hare (L. yarkandensis),respectively. The cape hare collected from Yancheng,Jiangsu in our study,had a close phylogenetic relationship with those from Shandong,Shaanxi and Sichuan Provinces. The present results provided some new insights into the tangled phylogenetic relationships of the cape hare.

Key words: Cape hare, Mitochondrial genome, Phylogenetic analysis