Journal of Animal Diversity

Journal of Animal Diversity

Complete mitochondrial genomes support the composition and rank of the American weasel genus Neogale (Carnivora: Mustelidae)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Bruce D. Patterson 1
Héctor E. Ramírez Chaves 2
André Elias Rodrigues Soares 3
Júlio F. Vilela 4
Felix Grewe 5
1 Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago IL 60605, USA
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
3 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
4 Núcleo de História Natural da UFPI, Campus Amílcar Ferreira Sobral, Universidade Federal do Piauí – UFPI BR343, Km 3,5 - Bairro Meladão, 64808-605, Floriano, PI, Brazil 4
5 Grainger Bioinformatics Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago IL 60605, USA
10.22034/JAD.2025.7.1.3
Abstract
Evidence that the endemic South American weasels are members of an American weasel clade has rested on a single mitochondrial gene sequence, cyt-b (1140 base pairs). We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes of Neogale africana and N. felipei and reanalyzed their relationships to other mustelines. Both Neogale Gray and Mustela Linnaeus were securely recovered as reciprocally monophyletic in maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Neogale africana and N. felipei are sisters, joined sequentially by N. vison and then N. frenata. This topology differs from prior ones based solely on cyt-b, where the panamerican species N. frenata is sister to the South American endemics. This finding suggests a different biogeographic scenario for the genus and offers a contrasting view of their life-mode evolution.
Keywords
Biogeography
classification
Carnivora
mitogenomes
phylogeny

Subjects

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Journal of Animal Diversity
Volume 7, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
Cover photo: The Ottoman Viper Montivipera xanthina (Gray, 1849) (Ophidia: Viperidae), from Gönen, Balıkesir, Türkiye. Photo by Arda Emre Kandil, 02 April 2024.
Winter 2025
Pages 41-48