title: Hybridization in large-bodied New World primates.
abstract: Well-documented cases of natural hybridization among primates are not common. In New World primates, natural hybridization has been reported only for small-bodied species, but no genotypic data have ever been gathered that confirm these reports. Here we present genetic evidence of hybridization of two large-bodied species of neotropical primates that diverged approximately 3 MYA. We used species-diagnostic mitochondrial and microsatellite loci and the Y chromosome Sry gene to determine the hybrid status of 36 individuals collected from an area of sympatry in Tabasco, Mexico. Thirteen individuals were hybrids. We show that hybridization and subsequent backcrosses are directionally biased and that the only likely cross between parental species produces fertile hybrid females, but fails to produce viable or fertile males. This system can be used as a model to study gene interchange between primate species that have not achieved complete reproductive isolation.
authors.affiliation: Museum of Zoology, and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. lcortes@umich.edu
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cortés-Ortiz
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Duda
authors.forename: Domingo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Canales-Espinosa
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: García-Orduña
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Luna
authors.forename: Eldredge
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bermingham
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000508:Alouatta / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D024282:Genes, sry; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013045:Species Specificity; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial