Identification of 10 Polymorphic Loci in the Yellow Mongoose Through Cross-Species Amplification

Abstract

The yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) is a facultatively social species and provides an opportunity to study the evolution of social behaviour through examination of populations within the species, as well as comparison with obligatorily social species of mongooses. I identified 10 polymorphic microsatellite markers in the yellow mongoose through crossspecies amplification that allow sociogenetic studies to be carried out. Most of these loci showed higher levels of polymorphism and heterozygosity in the yellow mongoose samples screened than in the species in which these microsatellites were originally characterized.