The island of Taiwan represents an ideal context for studying the effects of climatic oscillations and topographic variation on large herbivores due to its varied tropical to sub-tropical climate zones at different elevational ranges. We explored the phylogenetics of Formosan sambar deer ( Rusa unicolor swinhoii ) using the control region of the mitochondrial genome. We detected 18 haplotypes among 454 sequences across the isl...

The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP , following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mt DNA ) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the...