Lactotransferrin (LTF), a member of the transferrin family of genes, is the major iron-binding protein in milk and body secretions. The amino acid sequence of LTF consists of two homologous domains homologous to proteins in the transferrin family. Recent isolation of cDNA encoding mouse LTF has expedited the mapping of both mouse and human LTF genes. Southern blot analysis of DNA from mouse-Chinese hamster and human-mouse somatic cell hybrids maps the LTF gene to mouse chromosome 9 and to human chromosome 3, respectively. Furthermore, analysis of cell hybrids containing defined segments of human chromosome 3 demonstrates that the gene is located in the 3q21-qter region. These results suggest that LTF and associated genes of the transferrin family have existed together on the same chromosomal region for 300-500 million years.