To refine the linkage map of mouse Chromosome (Chr) 12 and to define better the homology relationships between it and human chrs 2p and 14q, nine new anonymous DNA markers of Chr 12 were identified, and mouse loci homologous to the human D14S17, CHGA, HSPA2, RRM2, TPO, and ZFP50 ("KUP") genes were defined. The inheritance of DNA variants associated with these markers was followed in progeny of a reciprocal backcross between the C57BL/6J and SWR/J laboratory mouse strains and in recombinant inbred (RI) strains of mice. These data, combined with results of previous analyses of the backcross, allowed the construction of a 22-marker multilocus linkage map that spanned 58 cM. Use of this map to anchor the RI typing data collected in this and previous studies allowed the construction of a 79-marker map that spanned 66 cM and the identification of a framework of unambiguously ordered, extensively typed markers that should facilitate the use of RI mice in testing new markers for possible linkage to Chr 12.