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Mousavi, M.; Rezaei, H.R.; Naderi, S.
Phylogeographic analysis of Iranian wildcats (_Felis lybica_ / _Felis silvestris_) as revealed by mitochondrial cytochrome b gene
2019  Zoology in the Middle East (65): 293-306

The wildcat (_Felis lybica/Felis silvestris_) is widely distributed in Africa and Eurasia. Iran is situated at the intersection of the distributions of the European Wildcat _F. silvestris_ with the African Wildcat _F. lybica_. The genetic relationships of the Iranian wildcat population with either group remain unclear. We examined sequence variation of 1,140 bp of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene from 23 wildcat samples collected across Iran. The analyses revealed two subclades, of which one is related to the Asian Wildcat (_F. lybica ornata_) and the other to the African Wildcat (_F. lybica lybica_) and the Domestic Cat (_F. catus_). Sixteen closely related haplotypes were identified for the entire country, with two geographically distinct subclades for western and eastern Zagros Mountain Range and overlapping in some localities. The analyses of fixation index (FST) and molecular variance (AMOVA) demonstrated significant genetic structuring among the two subclades(FST=0.63). Analysis of mismatch distribution and multimodal graph indicated that the Iranian wildcat population is in a condition of demographic equilibrium

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