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.

开发高效、无创的遗传采样方法以研究多种共存受胁猫科动物的野生种群，这一需求极为迫切。针对DNA降解迅速、粪便样本质量差异极大的复杂热带环境中开展的粪样分子遗传学（molecular scatology）研究而言，这一点尤为关键。本研究针对美洲豹（Panthera onca）、美洲狮（Puma concolor）以及虎猫（Leopardus pardalis）优化了14个多态性微卫星位点（microsatellite loci），并评估了其跨物种扩增的适用性。此外，我们利用中美洲伯利兹地区经粪便探测犬发现的野生猫科动物粪便DNA，检验了这些位点用于物种与个体识别的可靠性。所有微卫星位点均可在三种目标物种中成功扩增，且具有多态性：美洲豹的平均期望杂合度为HE = 0.60 ± 0.18（标准差standard deviation, SD），美洲狮为HE = 0.65 ± 0.21（SD），虎猫为HE = 0.70 ± 0.13（SD）；整体聚合酶链式反应（Polymerase Chain Reaction, PCR）扩增成功率达61%。本研究利用这套核DNA引物组，成功从1053份野外采集的粪便样本中，对49%的样本完成了物种与个体识别。这套优化后的微卫星多重扩增体系，可为未来针对多种新热带界野生猫科动物开展无创研究提供强有力的工具。