Molecular phylogeny of the genus <i>Muntiacus</i> with special emphasis on the phylogenetic position of <i>Muntiacus gongshanensis</i>
Yunchun Zhang, 中国科学院东南亚生物多样性研究中心&中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园综合保护中心，云南 勐腊 666303，中国, Ye Htet Lwin, Ren Li, Kyaw-Win Maung, Guogang Li, Rui‐Chang Quan, 中国科学院大学，北京100049，中国, 缅甸自然资源与环境保护部林业研究所，内比都 耶津05282，缅甸, 青海师范大学生命科学学院，青海 西宁 810008，中国, 中国科学院核心植物园保护生物学协同中心，云南 勐腊666303，中国
Abstract
Muntjac deer (Cervidae: <i>Muntiacus</i>) are often cited as an excellent model for the study of vertebrate evolution due to their fast rate of change in chromosome number among vertebrates. However, the phylogenetic relationships within <i>Muntiacus</i> generally, and the taxonomic status of <i>Muntiacus gongshanensis</i> specifically, remain unclear. Here, the phylogenetic relationships within <i>Muntiacus</i> were studied using mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) and cytochrome <i>b</i> (cyt <i>b</i>) segments. Our results recognize 12 species within <i>Muntiacus</i> and support the controversial species <i>M. gongshanensis</i>, <i>M. putaoensis</i>, and <i>M. malabaricus</i>. Furthermore, Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum-likelihood (ML) approaches revealed <i>M. gongshanensis</i> and <i>M. crinifrons</i> to be closely related species, with <i>M. feae</i> as their sister species, and <i>M. putaoensis</i> and <i>M. truongsonensis</i> to be closely related, with <i>M. rooseveltorum</i> as their sister species. The distribution range of <i>M. gongshanensis</i> was also confirmed in southwest China (Namdapha, Modong, Zayu and Gongshan) and northern Myanmar (Putao). The results of this study provide insight into the evolution of <i>Muntiacus</i> and further provide a molecular basis for the taxonomic evaluation of the genus in the future and fundamental data for the conservation of <i>M. gongshanensis.</i>