Folia Zool. – 58(1): 14–25 (2009) Phylogenetic relationships among the Old World Sciurus squirrels Tatsuo OSHIDA1*, Atilla ARSLAN2 and Maiko NODA3 1 Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan; e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Selcuk University, Selcuklu, Konya, Turkey; e-mail:
[email protected] 3 Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Japan; e-mail:
[email protected] Received 9 October 2007; Accepted 24 October 2008 Abstract. Phylogenetic relationships of Sciurus were examined based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences of three Old World and four New World species. The purpose was to test for monophyly in Old World Sciurus (S. anomalus, S. lis, and S. vulgaris). Phylogenetic trees well supported clustering of (1) S. anomalus, (2) S. lis and S. vulgaris, and (3) the four New World Sciurus species. Sciurus anomalus was more closely related to the clade consisting of New World Sciurus species than the one consisting of S. lis and S. vulgaris, indicating a polyphyletic relationship in Old World Sciurus. The primary divergence of Sciurus may have taken place early on the Eurasian Continent. Then, the ancestral stock of modern New World Sciurus would have migrated from the Eurasian Continent to the North American Continent. Key words: cytochrome b, molecular phylogeny, Persian squirrel, Sciurus anomalus Introduction To understand the evolutionary history of modern mammals, it is extremely important to resolve phylogeographical events that took place between the Old and New Worlds: such as movement, colonization, and diversification.