Development of a reliable method for determining sex for a primitive rodent, the Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra)

Abstract

The mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is a primitive species of rodent, often considered a living fossil. The Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra) is an endangered subspecies that occurs in a very restricted range in northern California. Efforts to recover this taxon have been limited by the lack of knowledge on their demography, particularly sex and age-specific vital rates. Recent studies have employed non-invasive genetic sampling to conduct capture-mark-recaptures to estimate abundance, survival and recruitment. Here we report on the development of a method using restriction fragment length polymorphisms to determine sex from tissues, bone and non-invasively collected hair samples for the Point Arena mountain beaver.