COMPARISON OF GENETIC-VARIABILITY IN WILD INSULAR AND MAINLAND POPULATIONS OF EULEMUR MACACO - IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION STRATEGY

DNA fingerprinting analysis was used to investigate genetic variabilit y within and between three wild populations of Eulemur macaco living o n two islands and on the mainland. The analyses revealed that the gene tic variability of the population from the smaller island was, as expe cted, lower than that from the larger island. Surprisingly, on the lar ger island the genetic variability was greater than on the mainland. T hese results, in agreement with those previously obtained from blood m arkers, are discussed in relation to the history of these populations, In addition, the study suggests that settlement of the smallest islan d was not only by animals originating from the mainland, as previously proposed on the basis of blood marker data, but also by lemurs from t he nearby, larger, island. Evidence is presented that reliable informa tion about population structure can be derived only from studies using different genetic markers. This information is important to enable ap propriate conservation programmes to be designed.