[Phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus): data of analysis of polymorphism of the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome b].

Analysis of polymorphism of the gene for cytochrome b (1140 bp) of 106 samples of red deer (Cervus elaphus) of Eurasia is carried out, and the phylogenetic relationships of groups throughout the entire geographic range, including North America, are reconstructed. In total, the paper describes 75 haplotypes, 33 of them for the European and 42 for the Asian part of the geographic range. Common haplotypes for these two parts of the range were not found. The genetic kinship of Asian Siberian stags and North American wapiti is confirmed. Red deer living in Yakutia are close to the Siberian stags of Altai and Tuva, whereas red deer that live in Krasnoyarsk krai and Irkutsk oblast form a separate group. Overall, the reconstructed phylogeographic structure of the species is significantly different from the accepted subspecies differentiation based on morphological characters.