Analysis of relatedness in the California condors, from DNA fingerprints

C. J. Geyer, O. A. Ryder, L. G. Chemnick, E. A. Thompson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Genealogical relationships between extant individuals are an important criterion in the development of a genetic management plan for an endangered species. Where survival is ensured by captive breeding, the genealogy of current individuals is often available, but relationships among founders from the wild may be almost completely unknown. Genetic data can provide information on these unknown relationships, but the inference of genealogical structure from genetic data is not straightforward, especially where the available data are multilocus DNA fingerprints. Here we use a new model to analyze the DNA fingerprint data available for the California condor population and to make inferences as to the structure of relationships among the founder individuals. We show that inferences can be made on the basis of these fingerprint data. The inferences made have implications for the genetic management of the species.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)571-589
Number of pages19
JournalMolecular biology and evolution
Volume10
Issue number3
StatePublished - May 1993

Keywords

  • DNA fingerprint
  • Gymnogyps californianus
  • Relatedness

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