Abstract Interspecific mouse hybrids that are viable and fertile provide a wealth of genetic variation that is useful for gene mapping. We are using this genetic variation to develop multilocus linkage maps of the mouse genome. As an outgrowth of this work, we have identified three repetitive probes that collectively identify 28 loci dispersed on 16 of the 19 mouse autosomes and the X chromosome. These loci establish a skeleton linkage map that can be used to detect linkage over much of the mouse genome. The molecular probes are derived from the mouse mammary tumor virus envelope gene, the ornithine decarboxylase gene, and the triose phosphate isomerase gene. The ability to scan the mouse genome quickly and efficiently in an interspecific cross using these three repetitive probes makes this system a powerful tool for identifying the chromosomal location of mutations that have yet to be cloned, mapping multigenic traits, and identifying recessive protooncogene loci associated with murine neoplastic disease. Ultimately, interspecific hybrids in conjunction with repetitive and single-copy probes will provide a rapid means to access virtually any gene of interest in the mouse genome at the molecular level.