GENETIC VARIABILITY IN ARGENTINEAN HOWLER MONKEYS (Alouatta caraya): A NATURAL PROCESS OR AN ANTHROPIC EFFECT?

CORACH D.; CAPUTO M.; L. OKLANDER

Primatology in Argentina

SAREM

Año: 2017; p. 87 - 103

Black and gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) are the most southerly primates t in the Neotropical region. Currently, they are threatened by the process of forest loss and fragmentation induced mainly by the expansion of the agricultural frontier notably for cattle ranching and soy production. Previous studies suggest that habitat fragmentation modifies the dispersal patterns of black and gold howler monkeys, and might reflect a trend towards a reduction in their ability to disperse. Howler monkeys are very important from an epidemiological point of view because they are considered sentinels of yellow fever virus. Populations of this species have been seriously threatened by the yellow fever virus, with reported deaths in Argentina and Brazil. In the current study, we present preliminary results on a study of the genetic variation in several black and gold howler populations in Argentina. We studied nine A. caraya populations from various provinces of northern Argentina, and one population from Paraguay. With the aim of characterizing the level of genetic variability, and the processes that determined the actual genetic structure, we analyse eight already-described microsatellites or STRs (short tandem repeats). We found significant differences between populations (FST= 0.105, p