The high-capacity DNA analysis of museum samples opens new opportunities, associated with the investigation of extinct species evolution. Here, the complete mitochondrial genome of the presumably extinct bird species, the slender-billed curlew Numenius tenuirostris (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae) is presented. Our results showed that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is 16,705 base pairs (bp) in length and contain 13 protein-coding genes, two rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes. The overall base composition of the genome is 30.8% – A, 29.8% – C, 25.4% – T, 14.0% – G, and without a significant GC bias of 43.7%. Phylogenetic analyses based on the cytochrome B (cytB) gene and the whole mtDNA sequences revealed that N. tenuirostris had a close genetic relationship to Eurasian curlew (N. arquata), Far Eastern curlew (N. madagascariensis), and long-billed curlew – N. americanus. Besides, it reveals that Numenius genus is genetically distant from other Scolopacidae taxons. Together, these results provide a clear genetic perspective into the speciation process among the curlew genus members and points to a clear taxonomic position of N. tenuirostris.

博物馆样本的高容量DNA分析为灭绝物种进化的研究提供了新的机遇。在这里，介绍了可能灭绝的鸟类物种的完整线粒体基因组，即长嘴curl（Numenius tenuirostris）（Charadriiformes：Scolopacidae）。我们的结果表明，线粒体DNA（mtDNA）的长度为16,705个碱基对（bp），包含13个蛋白质编码基因，两个rRNA基因和22个tRNA基因。基因组的总体碱基组成为30.8％– A，29.8％– C，25.4％– T，14.0％–G，并且没有明显的GC偏倚43.7％。根据细胞色素B（cytB）基因和整个mtDNA序列进行的系统发育分析表明，N. tenuirostris不得不白腰杓鹬（密切的亲缘关系N. arquata），大杓鹬（N.蕉）和长嘴鹬- N.美洲。此外，它揭示了努梅尼乌斯属与其他鹬类分类群遗传遥远。总之，这些结果为the属属成员之间的物种形成过程提供了清晰的遗传学观点，并指出了N. tenuirostris的明确分类学位置。