[Molecular phylogeny of deer (Cervidae: Artiodactyla)].

Sequences of mitochondrial genes 12S and 16S rRNA (2 445 bp) and the region of the nuclear beta-spectrin gene (828 bp) were analyzed in members of the family Cervidae and in other artiodactyls. Several molecular synapomorphies characteristic both of Cervidae and musk deer have been found. According to our data, Cervidae is a sister clade to Bovidae, which are very close to Moschidae. The family Giraffidae is exterior to this common clade, while Antilocapridae occupies a more basal position. The family Cervidae proper splits into three clades including the genera Cervus and Muntiacus (1), Capreolus, Hydropotes, Alces (2), and Rangifer, Odocoileus, and the remaining genera (3). In general, our phylogenetic reconstructions conform to the results of earlier molecular genetic studies, but substantially differ from the traditional taxonomy of Ruminantia.