High-resolution derivative melting was used to obtain detailed distributions of local (G + C) contents in a number of ruminant DNAs. Profiles over low (G + C) regions [20-36% (G + C)] are congruent for all ruminants. This region represents 45-50% of the nuclear DNA content and primarily contains intergenic and intron sequences. The high (G + C) region, where most coding sequences are found [38-68% (G + C)], is marked by satellite bands denoting the presence of transcriptionally inert, tandemly repetitive sequence families. These bands can be analyzed for the abundance, base composition, and sequence divergence of satellite families with relatively high precision. Band patterns are unique to each species; even closely related species can be readily distinguished by their base distribution profiles. Variations in nuclear DNA contents in ruminants, determined by flow cytometry, are primarily due to variations in abundances of these repetitive sequence families. Thus, A. alces (moose) is found to have 8.85 +/- 0.2 pg DNA/cell, 25% more than the average in ruminants, while the base distribution curve indicates the presence of an unusually abundant satellite of 52.6% (G + C). The size (1 kb) and sequence of this satellite corresponds to satellite-I of other cervids, and in consequence it is designated Alces-I. The sequence of a cloned repeat of Alces-I has a length of 968 bp, a (G + C) content of 52.6%, and contributes 35%, or almost 3 million copies to the nuclear DNA, exceeding by approximately 300% the average array size of this repeat family in related cervids. In situ hybridization indicates the repeat is distributed throughout centromeric regions of all 62 acrocentric autosomes. Alces-I has much greater-than-expected numbers of GG, GA, and AG and far fewer numbers of TA and CG duplets, characteristics of all tandem repeats. The sequence is judged to be orthologous with satellite-I sequences from Rangifer tarandus (caribou), Capreolus capreolus (roe deer), Muntiacus muntjac (Chinese muntjac) and Muntiacus reevesi (Indian muntjac), as well as Antilocapra americana (pronghorn), and the bovids Bos taurus and Ovis aries. A tentative tree for the five cervids is in excellent agreement with one proposed on the basis of morphological characteristics. Differences from a consensus sequence indicate transversions exceed transitions by almost twofold, suggesting that substitutions occur randomly, or nearly so.