The first complete mitochondrial genomes of snow sheep (<i>Ovis nivicola</i>) and thinhorn sheep (<i>Ovis dalli</i>) and their phylogenetic implications for the genus <i>Ovis</i>

Abstract

In this study, we present the first complete mitochondrial genomes of two species of the genus Ovis – snow sheep (Ovis nivicola) and thinhorn sheep (Ovis dalli). The mitochondrial genomes have a total length of 16,471 and 16,464 bp, respectively, including 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a non-coding region. Phylogenetic analyses using nucleotide sequences of the 13 PCGs indicated that O. nivicola and O. dalli clustered with another representative of the Pachyceros subgenus – O. canadensis, which was consistent with the previous morphological classification.