Background: The greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus) is a member of the Family Lemuridae that is unique in their dependency on bamboo as a primary food source. This Critically Endangered species lives in small forest patches in eastern Madagascar, occupying a fraction of its historical range. Here we sequence the genome of the greater bamboo lemur for the first time, and provide genome resources for future studies of this species that can be applied across its distribution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSome primate populations include both trichromatic and dichromatic (red-green colour blind) individuals due to allelic variation at the X-linked opsin locus. This polymorphic trichromacy is well described in day-active New World monkeys. Less is known about colour vision in Malagasy lemurs, but, unlike New World monkeys, only some day-active lemurs are polymorphic, while others are dichromatic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe family Lepilemuridae includes 26 species of sportive lemurs, most of which were recently described. The cryptic morphological differences confounded taxonomy until recent molecular studies; however, some species’ boundaries remain uncertain. To better understand the genus Lepilemur, we analyzed 35 complete mitochondrial genomes representing all recognized 26 sportive lemur taxa and estimated divergence dates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHumans first arrived on Madagascar only a few thousand years ago. Subsequent habitat destruction and hunting activities have had significant impacts on the island's biodiversity, including the extinction of megafauna. For example, we know of 17 recently extinct 'subfossil' lemur species, all of which were substantially larger (body mass ∼11-160 kg) than any living population of the ∼100 extant lemur species (largest body mass ∼6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe answer to the proffered question, "What is a species?" is considered one of the fundamental issues of biological science, as well as one of the most polarizing and sometimes acrimonious problems. Dozens of species concepts have been defined, but none are universal for implementation across all taxa. Within the past thirty years, the ability to analyze DNA data has progressed to the point that multiple methodologies can be simultaneously applied to the same evolutionary questions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe performed a population genomics study of the aye-aye, a highly specialized nocturnal lemur from Madagascar. Aye-ayes have low population densities and extensive range requirements that could make this flagship species particularly susceptible to extinction. Therefore, knowledge of genetic diversity and differentiation among aye-aye populations is critical for conservation planning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome of Hubbard's or Zombitse sportive lemur (Lepilemur hubbardorum) was generated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification, primer-walking sequencing and fragment cloning. Comparative analyses of Hubbard's sportive lemur were conducted with available complete mitochondrial genome sequences from eight other lemur species. The mitochondrial genome of Hubbard's sportive lemur is 16,854 base pairs (bp) and contains 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes and one control region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA total of 114 captive elephants (6 Asian; 108 African) from 43 private institutions or North American zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums were sampled and evaluated to investigate genetic status. Because previous analyses of the captive collection indicated potential cytonuclear dissociation between mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence and microsatellite nuclear DNA genotype data, we investigated this phenomenon within the captive collection with 2 X-linked genes (BGN and PHKA2) and 1 Y-linked gene (AMELY). These data reveal that individuals with forest-derived elephant mtDNA lineages carried only savannah elephant nuclear gene haplotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDecken's sifaka (Propithecus deckeni deckeni) is found between the Mahavavy and Manambolo Rivers, in western Madagascar. Twenty-one polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci were isolated from genomic DNA derived from a P. d.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough appearing in the literature as early as 1890, the brown lemur form Eulemur cinereiceps has recently resurfaced as a potentially valid taxon, distinct from neighboring, presumably closely related species such as white-collared lemurs (Eulemur albocollaris). We propose two scenarios for the potential separation of E. cinereiceps and E.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFYing Yong Sheng Tai Xue Bao
February 2004
The relationship between the survival rate, developmental duration of Microplitis sp. in Spodoptera litura larvae and time of exposure of the host larvae to virus, the inoculation virus concentration were investigated to determined if parasites which emerged from virus-infected S. litura larvae had normal survive, and if the parasites could sever as the vector for S.
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