Phylogenetic relationships of the Banded Hare wallaby (Lagostrophus fasciatus) and a map of the kangaroo mitochondrial control region

The complete mitochondrial genome of the endangered Banded Hare wallaby (Lagostrophus fasciatus) was sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. The data set consisted of 10 377 nucleotides (3459 amino acids) from three kangaroo species. The phylogenetic analyses strongly supported the hypothesis that the Banded Hare wallaby is the sister-group of the wallaroo (subfamily Macropodidae). In addition to the phylogenetic reconstruction, the mt control region, or (D)-loop, from Australian marsupials has been mapped for the first time. The results show that the organization of the kangaroo control region is similar to that of placental mammals. The presence of a duplicated CSB-1 block found in all three kangaroo species is an uncommon feature of mammalian mt DNA. The CSB domain was found to be the most variable region in the control region, followed by a less variable ETAS domain.