Biodiversity information obtained from feces of mammals including the Tsushima leopard cat and application to species conservation 1230335CA 80192748

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The purpose of this study was to obtain genetic information on fecal samples of carnivoran mammals including the Tsushima leopard cat, collected from field, and apply it to species conservation. Individuality test using microsatellite genotyping was performed on the fecal samples, whose species were identified as the leopard cat by using the PCR method of mitochondrial DNA markers. The analytical reproduction of genotypes on one sample was confirmed by two to six replications of analysis. The sex identification was also performed using sex-chromosomal DNA markers, leading to higher success rates of individuality test. By using the fecal samples collected in a restricted area on Tsushima Island during the last two years, some feces from different years were found to be originated from identical individuals of the leopard cats, indicating that the method makes it possible to estimate the ranges of individuals. Additionally, the similar method using microsatellite markers and tissue samples clarified the genetic background of the Tsushima marten, which is a sympatric species with the Tsushima leopard cat, and the result was published in an article. Furthermore, this kind of the non-invasive method was applied to individuality test and estimation of the individual number in a local population of the red fox in Hokkaido, and the successful result shows that the non-invasive method very much contributes to conservation genetic study of carnivoran species.