Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 82 (1): 97-117, 2009
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Genetic characterization of the Bolivian Andean puma (Puma concolor) at the
Sajama National Park (SNP) and relationships with other north-western South American puma Populations
Twenty-five Andean Bolivian fecal samples were obtained for extracting DNA. Five
different Andean Bolivian pumas were detected and together with three skins of animals hunted completed eight Andean Bolivian
pumas studied here. Additionally, 45 DNA samples from wild pumas from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and western Brazilian
Amazon were analyzed by means of hair with roots, little pieces of skins, muscle tissues and teeth. All these 53 puma DNA were
genotypified for seven microsatellites (Fca 08, 24, 43, 45, 96, 126 and 391). The levels of gene diversity were very high in both sample
groups (H = 0.942 and 0.845, respectively), with values considerably higher than those found in the North American pumas. Diverse
population assignment analyses showed that the Bolivian Andean pumas did not form a different significant cluster from the other
puma group studied. Only Fca 96 showed significant heterogeneity between both groups. Nevertheless, globally, this heterogeneity
was very small (F<sub>ST</sub>, G<sub>ST</sub>, R<sub>ST</sub>). On the contrary, the gene flow
estimates between both groups were very elevated for all the procedures performed. The estimation of the parameter θ(=
4N<sub>e</sub>µ), by means of the maximum likelihood procedure of Nielsen (1997), showed that the Bolivian sample is a
similar extension of the puma population of the other Latin American countries analyzed. Therefore, this study yielded strong results in
favor of an unique gene pool of pumas in north western South America, in contrast with the traditional morphology and morphometric
classifications which had identified a considerable number of puma subspecies in this region of Latin America.
Key words:
puma, Puma
concolor, DNA microsatellites, population genetics, Bolivia.
