Microsatellite analysis of kinkajou social organization

Kinkajou social groups generally consist of one adult female, two males, on e subadult and one juvenile. Based on analysis of variation in 11 microsate llite loci, we assess the degree of kinship within and between four social groups totaling 25 kinkajous. We use exclusion and likelihood analyses to a ssign parents for seven of the eight offspring sampled, five with greater t han or equal to 95% certainty, and two with greater than or equal to 80% ce rtainty. Five of six identified sires of group offspring came from the same social group as the mother and pup. Adult males and females within a group were unrelated and subadults and juveniles were offspring of the group adu lts, suggesting a family structure. All five identified paternities within a social group were by the dominant male of the group. However, this copula tion asymmetry does not necessarily reflect cooperation due to kinship ties between the two adult males within a group as one of two adult male pairs sampled was unrelated. Neighbouring male kinkajous were more closely relate d to each other than neighbouring female kinkajous, suggesting that females disperse more often or farther than males.