Origine and Speciation of the Sika deer (Cervus nippon) in Japan

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Sequence analysis of mitchondrial DNA revealed two major phylogenetic sika deer (Cervus nippon) groups comprised of northern (Hokkaido-Honshu) and southern (Kyushu) local populations. Phylogenetic data suggest that the biogeographical boundary between northern and southern populations of sika deer lies somewhere in the Honshu mainland and not in channels that separate each Japanese Island as has been suggested. The expansion of the sika deer population in Hokkaido could have occurred through the habitat of coniferous forests after the historical bottleneck in Hokkaido.