Is the Newly Described Vietnamese Bovid Pseudonovibos spiralis a Chamois (Genus Rupicapra)?

���The “Linh Duong” (Pseudonovibos spiralis), a newly described Vietnamese bovid, has been shown to be related to the Caprinae on the basis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequencing from horn fragments. To integrate the greatest available biodiversity we performed a new phylogenetic analysis including all genera of Caprinae. Unexpectedly, Pseudonovibos is found to be robustly associated with Rupicapra, and closer to the Alpine than to the Pyrenean chamois. Several clues led us to interpret this result as a carry-over DNA contamination of Pseudonovibos by Rupicapra.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Service de Systématique Moléculaire, Institut de Systématique (FR 1541 – CNRS), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 43 rue Cuvier, F-75231 Paris Cedex 05, France, , , , , , FR

   A. Hassanin

2. Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Paléobiologie et Phylogénie, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (UMR 5554-CNRS), Université Montpellier II-CC064, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France, , , , , , FR

   E. J. P. Douzery

Received: 19 July 1999 / Accepted in revised form: 20 October 1999

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