The complete mitochondrial genome of Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii; Smuts, 1832) and phylogenetic position of the Pholidota (Weber, 1904) |
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Authors: | Zelda Du Toit,J. Paul Grobler,Antoinette Kotzé ,Raymond Jansen,Helene Brettschneider,Desiré L. Dalton |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa;2. National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, P.O. Box 754, Pretoria 0001, South Africa;3. Department of Environmental, Water and Earth Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa |
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Abstract: | Temmincki's ground pangolin is primarily a nocturnal mammal belonging to the order Pholidota. The body is covered in hard overlapping scales and these animals find refuge in burrows, feeding only on termites and ants. In this study, the whole mtDNA of Temmincki's ground pangolin was sequenced and the phylogenetic position of Pholidota determined within Eutheria, using whole mtDNA sequences from various representative species. The results indicate that the whole mtDNA of Temmincki's ground pangolin is 16,559 bp long and shared some similarities with the whole mtDNA of the back-bellied tree pangolin and the Chinese pangolin. Phylogenetic analysis indicate that the order Pholidota is closely related and share a recent common ancestor with the order Carnivora rather than with the ant/insect eating order Xenarthra and the group Afrotheria. A time measured phylogeny of Pholidota estimated a split from Carnivora at around 87 mya, followed by a split of the African pangolins from their Asian counterparts such as the Chinese pangolin at around 47 mya. This suggests a Laurasian origin and convergent evolution of the Pholidota with respect to Xenarthra and Afrotheria. |
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Keywords: | %, percentage μl, microlitre ° C, degree Celsius A, adenine AIC, Akaike Information Criterion BI, Bayesian inferences bp, base pair C, cytosine ddH2O, double distilled water DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid G, guanine G, gamma parameter GTR + I + G, General Time Reversal model with invariant sites and Gamma distribution kb, kilobase pair M, mole mg, milligram ML, maximum likelihood mtDNA, mitochondrial DNA Mya, millions of years ago NCBI, National Centre for Biotechnology Information NJ, Neighbour-Joining NRF, National Research Foundation NZG, National Zoological Gardens of South Africa PCR, Polymerase Chain Reaction R, transition:transversion ratio rRNA, ribosomal RNA RNA, ribonucleic acid sec, seconds T, thymine tRNA, transfer RNA |
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