Sex identification of the extant mega mammal, the lowland tapir, Tapirus terrestris (Tapiridae, Mammalia), by means of molecular markers: new outlook for non-invasive samples

The knowledge of the sex ratioof threatened populations or species is pivotal since sub-optimal sex ratioscan affect negatively the population growth and resilience. The vulnerable species, Tapirus terrestris, is rarely studied through traditional field methods and non-invasive genetic analyses have been employed using feces as source of DNA. Here, we evaluated two molecular markersfor sexidentification of tapirs. Amelogeningene ( AMEL) which is shorter in the Y chromosome(−20pb), failed in the determination of the sexof tapirs, even after the design of specific primers for the species. SRY marker, co-amplified with zinc-fingergene (ZF), had successful produced the sexidentity for blood and scat samples. From a total of 45 feaces, 29 had the sexidentified after three PCRS (64.4 %). In this way, these molecular markersare reliable tools for sex ratiodetermination using non-invasive samples of natural populations of this tapirs.