Population genetics of jaguarundis in Mexico: Implications for future research and conservation

Abstract

The jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi) is a Neotropical felid that ranges from northern Mexico to South America. The population trend for jaguarundis is declining, yet much remains unknown about their ecology. We live‐trapped 11 jaguarundis during 1991–2004 in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and we collected blood for genetic analyses. Our objectives were to 1) estimate neutral diversity using microsatellite and mitochondrial (mtDNA) markers, 2) estimate potentially adaptive diversity in coat coloration via the melanocortin‐1 receptor gene (MC1R), and 3) provide recommendations on the use of genetic markers for noninvasive studies. We observed moderate levels of heterozygosity (HE = 0.49, SD = 0.22) and number of alleles (A = 4.00, SD = 1.65) at 12 feline microsatellite loci. The probability of identifying 2 different jaguarundis as the same individual was low using only 4–7 loci (P(ID) < 0.001 and P(ID)sib < 0.01, respectively). We observed one mtDNA haplotype, indicating no mtDNA diversity. However, we documented diversity with the MC1R assay. The frequency of the melanistic mutation (gray phenotype) was 0.33, whereas, the frequency was 0.67 for the ancestral allele (red phenotype). Microsatellite diversity of our sampled jaguarundis was less than that of sympatric populations of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in Tamaulipas; however, mtDNA diversity was much lower. The frequency of the melanistic mutation was lower in our sample than was previously reported in captive jaguarundis. Our microsatellite loci provided adequate diversity to implement noninvasive genetic tools to better understand the ecology of the elusive jaguarundi. To our knowledge, this work is the first genetic evaluation of wild jaguarundis and provides baseline information for future research and conservation. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.

Primeros registros de 4 especies de felinos en el sur de Puebla, México

“…Los ejidatarios han observado ocasionalmente a estos solitarios felinos buscando roedores para alimentarse en los cañaverales, y Botello et al (2013) documentaron avistamientos de P. yagouaroundi en los años 2007 y 2010 en la zona de cañaverales del municipio de Coxcatlán, colindante con San José Axuxco. Esta información confirma que una población de jaguarundi habita en la región, lo cual es relevante para la conservación de la especie, ya que se conoce poco sobre el estatus de las poblaciones en México (Holbrook, Caso, Deyoung y Tewes, 2013).…”

Panel of polymorphic heterologous microsatellite loci to genotype critically endangered Bengal tiger: a pilot study

“…This shows that the discriminatory power of the loci developed from the domestic cat, Asiatic lion and snow leopard is greater in Bengal tiger DNA samples. The majority of recent studies undertaken on felids have also used microsatellite loci developed for the domestic cat (Alasaad et al 2011 ; Charruau et al 2011 ; Dutta et al 2012 ; Reddy et al 2012 ; Holbrook et al 2013 Lyke et al 2013 ; Sharma et al 2013 ). Therefore, domestic cat microsatellite loci may enable a comparison of data across species to minimize ascertainment biases (Garner et al 2005 ).…”

“…Therefore, numerous attempts have been made to use heterologous primers to support the conservation genetics of felids, viz. the jaguar ( Panthera onca ) (Ruiz-Garcia et al 2006 ), snow leopard ( Panthera uncia ) (Waits et al 2007 ), clouded leopard ( Neofelis nebulosa ) (Wilting et al 2007 ), Siberian tiger ( P. t. altaica ) (Alasaad et al 2011 ), cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus ) (Charruau et al 2011 ), jaguarandi ( Puma yagouaroundi ) (Holbrook et al 2013 ), Indian leopard ( Panthera pardus fusca ). (Mondol et al 2009a ; Dutta et al 2012 2013 ) and Bengal tiger (Bhagavatula and Singh 2006 ; Mondol et al 2009b ; Reddy et al 2012 ; Sharma et al 2013 ).…”

A comparative study of the use of tiger-specific and heterologous microsatellite markers for population genetic studies of the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)

“…In view of the recent advances that have taken place in DNA technologies, population genetics has been widely used in research and conservation of both abundant and rare species (Schwartz et al, 2007;Goedbloed et al, 2013;Holbrook et al, 2013). Molecular methods incorporating non-invasive sampling are commonly used in monitoring the populations of carnivores (Taberlet et al, 1999;Piggott and Taylor, 2003;Waits and Paetkau, 2005;Schwartz et al, 2007;Cullingham et al, 2010;Miotto et al, 2011) and in studying their socio-biology (Langergraber et al, 2013) and behavioral genetics (Langergraber and Vigilant, 2011;Lyke et al, 2013).…”

“…Notwithstanding this, the use of heterologous primers has become quite common in genetic studies because it eliminates the need to develop new sets of primers for each species (Engel et al, 1996). Heterologous primers have been used in studies carried out on the Far Eastern leopard (P. pardus orientalis) (Uphyrkina et al, 2002), jaguar (P. onca) (Ruiz-Garcia et al, 2006), snow leopard (P. uncia) (Waits et al, 2007), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) (Wilting et al, 2007), leopard (P. pardus) (Mondol et al, 2009), Siberian tiger (P. t. altaica) (Alasaad et al, 2011), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) (Charruau et al, 2011) and jaguarandi (Puma yagouaroundi) (Holbrook et al, 2013) and provided support to plan effective conservation strategies. Janecka et al (2008) modified primers for short amplicon originally developed for the domestic cat (Menotti-Raymond et al, 1999) and used them in genetic studies they carried out on the snow leopard.…”