Research overview: mitochondrial DNA in felid phylogenetics

Mitochondrial DNA, with its maternal inheritance, high copy number, and relatively fast evolution, was central to the first molecular phylogenies and phylogeographic studies of cats. This overview surveys its strengths for reconstructing matrilineal history, dating divergences, and tracing dispersal, as well as its limitations, including sensitivity to introgression, the existence of nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes, and the fact that a single locus tells only part of the story. It discusses landmark uses of mitochondrial data in resolving the cheetah's affinities, lion and tiger phylogeography, and cat domestication, and how mitochondrial results are now integrated with nuclear and whole-genome data for a fuller picture.