Generic relationships of extant cats : an electrophoretic study of blood proteins

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Betsy Gobble Hodgson (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Herbert Hendrickson

Abstract: The thirty-eight extant species of the family Felidae have been placed in as few as two and as many as nineteen separate genera. The purpose of the present study, therefore, is to review the various classification schemes within the Felidae and to examine their validity on the basis of a different set of taxonomic characters than has been used before in determining kinship among the cats. Because protein molecules are primary gene end-products, that is their amino acid sequences are the direct translation of the DNA-mRNA nucleotide sequences, it seems logical to assume that comparisons among homologous proteins from different organisms should provide useful systematic data. Therefore, this study has employed comparisons of the electrophoretic patterns of specific homologous protein components of the blood of eighteen felid species. The various proteins have been separated by mobility and staining techniques. The comparisons of the relative mobilities of these homologous components have indicated the degree of similarity among the eighteen species in terms of the blood proteins examined. The species tested include twelve representatives of the smaller cats, two lynxes, three great cats and the cheetah. Separations have been run for hemoglobin, the hemoglobin-haptoglobin complex, albumin, esterases, lactic dehydrogenase, malic dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, ceruloplasmin and transferrins. Initial analysis of the data collected has been made using multivariate discriminant analysis.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1974
Subjects
Felidae $v Classification
Felidae $x Genetics
Cats $v Classification

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