CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The greater rhea (Rhea americana) is a ratite bird characteristic of the scrublandsand grasslands of southern South America. Their wild populations are being adversely affected by agriculture, illegal hunting and egg harvesting. Onthe other hand, the commercial breeding of greater rhea is an alternative farming activity. Studies using dominant markers suggested that its mating system, which combines polygyny with sequential and simultaneous polyandry and promiscuity, may preserve genetic variability. Here, we developed 8 microsatellite loci that presented 3 to 8 alleles per locus and mean observed heterozygosities from 0.3 to 0.9, which will provide adequate markers to test hypotheses about genetic structure and mating system in greater rhea. Seven loci cross-amplified succesfully in the lesser rhea (R. pennata), of which three were polymorphic.