Comparative assessment of genotyping-by-sequencing and whole-exome sequencing for estimating genetic diversity and geographic structure in small sample sizes: insights from wild jaguar populations.

Biologists currently have an assortment of high-throughput sequencing techniques allowing the study of population dynamics in increasing detail. The utility of genetic estimates depends on their ability to recover meaningful approximations while filtering out noise produced by artifacts. In this study, we empirically compared the congruence of two reduced representation approaches (genotyping-by-sequencing, GBS, and whole-exome sequencing, WES) in estimating genetic diversity and population structure using SNP markers typed in a small number of wild jaguar (Panthera onca) samples from South America.

Phylogeographic analyses of an endemic Neotropical fox (Lycalopex vetulus) reveal evidence of hybridization with a different canid species (L. gymnocercus).

The hoary fox (Lycalopex vetulus) is the only species of the Canidae (Mammalia: Carnivora) endemic to Brazil, and so far has been the target of few genetic studies. Using microsatellites and mtDNA markers, we investigated its present genetic diversity and population structure. We also tested the hypothesis that this species currently hybridizes with the pampas fox (L.

Ecological modeling, biogeography, and phenotypic analyses setting the tiger cats' hyperdimensional niches reveal a new species.

Recently, the tiger-cat species complex was split into Leopardus tigrinus and Leopardus guttulus, along with other proposed schemes. We performed a detailed analysis integrating ecological modeling, biogeography, and phenotype of the four originally recognized subspecies-tigrinus, oncilla, pardinoides, guttulus-and presented a new multidimensional niche depiction of the species. Species distribution models used > 1400 records from museums and photographs, all checked for species accuracy.

Mitogenomic analysis of a late Pleistocene jaguar from North America.

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest living cat species native to the Americas and one of few large American carnivorans to have survived into the Holocene. However, the extent to which jaguar diversity declined during the end-Pleistocene extinction event remains unclear. For example, Pleistocene jaguar fossils from North America are notably larger than the average extant jaguar, leading to hypotheses that jaguars from this continent represent a now-extinct subspecies (Panthera onca augusta) or species (Panthera augusta).