Variation at tri‐ and tetranucleotide repeat microsatellite loci in the fruit bat genus Cynopterus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae)

There is considerable uncertainty surrounding the taxonomic relationship between Cynopterus sphinx and C. brachyotis, and the status of the many named forms within C. sphinx (Storz & Kunz 1999). Polymorphic microsatellite markers for cynopterine fruit bats would greatly aid efforts to elucidate species boundaries and genetic correlates of morphological variation within species. To assess levels of variation in C. sphinx and C. brachyotis, microsatellite genotypes were obtained for a total of 731 bats (620 C. sphinx and 111 C. brachyotis).