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Relatedness estimation of captive Asian elephants ( Elephas maximas ) by DNA fingerprinting
Author(s) -
Bischof Laura L.,
Duffield Deborah A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
zoo biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1098-2361
pISSN - 0733-3188
DOI - 10.1002/zoo.1430130110
Subject(s) - biology , elephas , dna profiling , sire , genetics , asian elephant , dna , evolutionary biology , zoology
DNA from eighteen Asian elephants of known relatedness from three North American zoos was fingerprinted with the hypervariable probe M13. Paternity of a calf of known pedigree was verified. Paternity assignment of a calf having two proposed sires was suggested, but could not be conclusively determined due to a unique fragment in the calf and the unavailability of one potential sire for testing. It was concluded that DNA fingerprinting with M13 could provide a reasonable first estimator of relatedness for first degree relatives (mean S = 0.63±.11) and for unrelated animals (mean S = 0.26±.11), but would be unreliable for the discrimination of intermediate degrees of relatedness. DNA fingerprinting can be efficiently used for paternity determination only when all potential sires can be tested. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.