Allozyme evolution and the molecular clock in the Lagomorpha

In order to provide a scale of genetic distances in the Lagomorpha, biochemical systematic relationships among Lepus europaeus, Lepus timidus, Oryctolagus cuniculus (Leporidae) and Ochotona rufescens (Ochotonidae) were examined by horizontal starch gel electrophoresis of 38 isozyme systems. Nei's (1978) genetic distances were calculated over 58 presumptive structural loci and used for the construction of numerical dendrograms. The stability of clusters were examined by the jackknife method and by comparison to a Hennigian cladogram. All these procedures revealed a constant picture of lagomorph relationships, which is in accordance with the conclusions drawn from other evidence.