% pubman genre = article @article{item_2452773, title = {{Highly polymorphic microsatellite markers for the assessment of male reproductive skew and genetic variation in critically endangered crested macaques (Macaca nigra)}}, author = {Engelhardt, Antje and Muniz, Laura and Perwitasari-Farajallah, Dyah and Widdig, Anja}, language = {eng}, issn = {0164-0291}, doi = {10.1007/s10764-017-9973-x}, publisher = {Kluwer [etc.]}, address = {New York}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-08}, abstract = {{Genetic analyses based on noninvasively collected samples have become an{\textless}br{\textgreater}important tool for evolutionary biology and conservation. Crested macaques (Macaca{\textless}br{\textgreater}nigra), endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, are important for our understanding of primate{\textless}br{\textgreater}evolution as Sulawesi macaques represent an exceptional example of primate adaptiveradiation. Crestedmacaques are also Critically Endangered. However, to date we know very{\textless}br{\textgreater}little about their genetics. The aim of our study was to find and validate microsatellite{\textless}br{\textgreater}markers useful for evolutionary, conservation, and other genetic studies on wild crested{\textless}br{\textgreater}macaques. Using fecal samples of 176 wild macaques living in the Tangkoko Reserve,{\textless}br{\textgreater}Sulawesi,we identified 12 polymorphicmicrosatellite loci through cross-species polymerase{\textless}br{\textgreater}chain reaction amplification with later modification of some of these primers.We tested their{\textless}br{\textgreater}suitability by investigating and exploring patterns of paternity, observed heterozygosity, and{\textless}br{\textgreater}evidence for inbreeding. We assigned paternity to 63 of 65 infants with high confidence.{\textless}br{\textgreater}Among cases with solved paternity, we found no evidence of extragroup paternity and natal{\textless}br{\textgreater}breeding. We found a relatively steep male reproductive skew B index of 0.330 $\pm$ 0.267;{\textless}br{\textgreater}mean $\pm$ SD) and mean alpha paternity of 65{\textpercent} per year with large variation across groups{\textless}br{\textgreater}and years (29{\textendash}100{\textpercent}). Finally, we detected an excess in observed heterozygosity and no{\textless}br{\textgreater}evidence of inbreeding across our three study groups, with an observed heterozygosity of{\textless}br{\textgreater}0.766 $\pm$ 0.059 and expected heterozygosity of 0.708 $\pm$ 0.059, and an inbreeding coefficient{\textless}br{\textgreater}of {\textminus}0.082 $\pm$ 0.035. Our results indicate that the selected markers are useful for genetic{\textless}br{\textgreater}studies on wild crested macaques, and possibly also on other Sulawesi and closely related{\textless}br{\textgreater}macaques. They further suggest that the Tangkoko population of crested macaques is still{\textless}br{\textgreater}genetically variable despite its small size, isolation, and the species{\textquoteright} reproductive patterns.{\textless}br{\textgreater}This gives us hope that other endangered primate species living in small, isolated{\textless}br{\textgreater}populations may also retain a healthy gene pool, at least in the short term.}}, journal = {{International Journal of Primatology}}, volume = {38}, number = {4}, pages = {672--691}, }