Data from: Noninvasive individual and species identification of jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in Belize, Central America using cross-species microsatellites and fecal DNA

There is a great need to develop efficient, noninvasive genetic sampling
methods to study wild populations of multiple, co-occurring, threatened
felids. This is especially important for molecular scatology studies
occurring in challenging tropical environments where DNA degrades quickly
and the quality of faecal samples varies greatly. We optimized 14
polymorphic microsatellite loci for jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma
concolor) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) and assessed their utility for
cross-species amplification. Additionally, we tested their reliability for
species and individual identification using DNA from faeces of wild felids
detected by a scat detector dog across Belize in Central America. All
microsatellite loci were successfully amplified in the three target
species, were polymorphic with average expected heterozygosities of HE =
0.60 ± 0.18 (SD) for jaguars, HE = 0.65 ± 0.21 (SD) for pumas and HE =
0.70 ± 0.13 (SD) for ocelots and had an overall PCR amplification success
of 61%. We used this nuclear DNA primer set to successfully identify
species and individuals from 49% of 1053 field-collected scat samples.
This set of optimized microsatellite multiplexes represents a powerful
tool for future efforts to conduct noninvasive studies on multiple, wild
Neotropical felids.