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    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Feb 15;88(4):1570-4.

    Resolution of the African hominoid trichotomy by use of a mitochondrial gene sequence.

    Source

    Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.

    Abstract

    Mitochondrial DNA sequences encoding the cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene have been determined for five primate species, siamang (Hylobates syndactylus), lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus), crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), and green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops), and compared with published sequences of other primate and nonprimate species. Comparisons of cytochrome oxidase subunit II gene sequences provide clear-cut evidence from the mitochondrial genome for the separation of the African ape trichotomy into two evolutionary lineages, one leading to gorillas and the other to humans and chimpanzees. Several different tree-building methods support this same phylogenetic tree topology. The comparisons also yield trees in which a substantial length separates the divergence point of gorillas from that of humans and chimpanzees, suggesting that the lineage most immediately ancestral to humans and chimpanzees may have been in existence for a relatively long time.

    PMID:
    1996358
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
    PMCID:
    PMC51061
    Free PMC Article

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