Gravlund P, Meldgaard M, Pääbo S, Arctander P
Department of Population Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, Copenhagen O, DK-2100, Denmark.
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 1998 Oct;10(2):151-9. doi: 10.1006/mpev.1998.0525.
In order to investigate the origin of the three small-bodied, high-arctic subspecies of reindeer, Rangifer tarandus pearyi (the Canadian Archipelago), R. t. eogroenlandicus (East Greenland, extinct since 1900 AD), and R. t. platyrhynchus (Svalbard), samples were collected at nine localities from all six of the currently recognized subspecies of the tundra reindeer. A 203-bp-long fragment of the mitochondrial control region was sequenced from 113 reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). The now extinct subspecies R. t. eogroenlandicus was for the first time included in a molecular study; DNA was extracted from four museum specimens (skins and bones) and successfully sequenced. A polyphyletic origin for the three subspecies of small-bodied, high-arctic reindeer is suggested, with R. t. pearyi and R. t. eogroenlandicus being closely related and probably having evolved in high-arctic North America and R. t. platyrhynchus from Svalbard having evolved from Eurasian large-bodied reindeer. The small-bodied, high-arctic reindeer presumably represent ecotypes that have evolved convergently in similar high-arctic environments.
为了探究三种体型较小、分布于北极地区的驯鹿亚种的起源，即加拿大北极群岛的皮尔里驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus pearyi）、自公元1900年起灭绝的东格陵兰驯鹿（R. t. eogroenlandicus）以及斯瓦尔巴德驯鹿（R. t. platyrhynchus），研究人员从苔原驯鹿目前公认的所有六个亚种的九个地点采集了样本。对113头驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus）的线粒体控制区一段203个碱基对长的片段进行了测序。现已灭绝的东格陵兰驯鹿亚种首次被纳入分子研究；从四个博物馆标本（兽皮和骨骼）中提取了DNA并成功测序。研究表明，这三种体型较小、分布于北极地区的驯鹿亚种具有多系起源，皮尔里驯鹿和东格陵兰驯鹿关系密切，可能在北极地区的北美洲进化而来，而来自斯瓦尔巴德的斯瓦尔巴德驯鹿则由欧亚大陆体型较大的驯鹿进化而来。体型较小、分布于北极地区的驯鹿可能代表了在类似的北极环境中趋同进化的生态型。
