The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment

The felid coat pattern evolution proposes that the primitive pattern is one of relatively large spots that break down into smaller spots (flecks) and rosettes while at the same time leading to various striped patterns as sidelines. The primitive pattern appears to be flecks, and it is from this type that nearly all other types have developed. Latest analyses identified eight major felid patterns by using DNA sequence from aDNA, xDNA, yDNA, and mtDNA gene segments. Eight Felidae lineages are strongly supported by bootstrap analyses and Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) for the nDNA dat…