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A PCR‐RFLP assay for gender assignment in the three‐toed sloths ( Bradypus , Pilosa, Bradypodidae)
Author(s) -
MARTINELLI ARTURO B.,
DE MORAESBARROS NADIA,
ALVARENGA CLARA S.,
CHAVES PAULO B.,
SANTOS LUIZ A. D.,
FAGUNDES VALÉRIA
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
molecular ecology resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.96
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1755-0998
pISSN - 1755-098X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02820.x
Subject(s) - biology , restriction fragment length polymorphism , zoology , computational biology , genetics , polymerase chain reaction , gene
The three‐toed sloths ( Bradypus ) are slow‐moving arboreal neotropical mammals. Understanding demographic variables (such as sex ratio) of populations is a key for conservation purposes. Nevertheless, gender assignment of Bradypus is particularly challenging because of the lack of sexual dimorphism in infants and in adults, particularly B. torquatus , the most endangered of the three‐toed sloths, in which sex is attributed by visual observation of the reproductively active males. Here, we standardized a method for sexing Bradypus individuals using PCR‐RFLP of sex‐linked genes ZFX/ZFY. This assay was validated with known‐gender animals and proved accurate to assign gender on three Bradypus species.