DOI: 10.5061/dryad.j248q
title: Data from: Noninvasive individual and species identification of jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in Belize, Central America using cross-species microsatellites and fecal DNA

description: There is a great need to develop efficient, noninvasive genetic sampling
 methods to study wild populations of multiple, co-occurring, threatened
 felids. This is especially important for molecular scatology studies
 occurring in challenging tropical environments where DNA degrades quickly
 and the quality of faecal samples varies greatly. We optimized 14
 polymorphic microsatellite loci for jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma
 concolor) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) and assessed their utility for
 cross-species amplification. Additionally, we tested their reliability for
 species and individual identification using DNA from faeces of wild felids
 detected by a scat detector dog across Belize in Central America. All
 microsatellite loci were successfully amplified in the three target
 species, were polymorphic with average expected heterozygosities of HE =
 0.60 ± 0.18 (SD) for jaguars, HE = 0.65 ± 0.21 (SD) for pumas and HE =
 0.70 ± 0.13 (SD) for ocelots and had an overall PCR amplification success
 of 61%. We used this nuclear DNA primer set to successfully identify
 species and individuals from 49% of 1053 field-collected scat samples.
 This set of optimized microsatellite multiplexes represents a powerful
 tool for future efforts to conduct noninvasive studies on multiple, wild
 Neotropical felids.
description: STRUCTURE - Belize
 Felids - Wultsch et al. 2014STRUCTURE file for the
 manuscript "Noninvasive Individual and Species Identification of
 Jaguars (Panthera onca), Pumas (Puma concolor) and Ocelots (Leopardus
 pardalis) in Belize, Central America using Cross-Species Microsatellites
 and Fecal DNA". The file includes microsatellite genotype data for
 the three target species detected in Belize for this
 study.Structure_BZ
 Felids_Wultsch_et_al.strCytb_BZ_FelidsAlignment of cytochrome b (H15149, Kocher et al. 1989; Farrell-R, Farrell et al. 2000) sequence data in nexus format. Sample ID is tied to selected specimen (fecal DNA samples) of three Neotropical felids (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; ocelot, Leopardus pardalis) collected in Belize, Central America.12S_BZ_FelidsAlignment of 12S (L1085, H1259, Kitano et al. 2007) sequence data in nexus format. Sample ID is tied to selected specimen (fecal DNA samples) of three Neotropical felids (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; ocelot, Leopardus pardalis) collected in Belize, Central America.16S_BZ_FelidsAlignment of 16S (L2513, H2714, Kitano et al. 2007) sequence data in nexus format. Sample ID is tied to selected specimen (fecal DNA samples) of three Neotropical felids (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; ocelot, Leopardus pardalis) collected in Belize, Central America.16Scp_BZ_FelidsAlignment of 16Scp (16Scp-F, 16Scp-F, Kitano et al. 2007) sequence data in nexus format. Sample ID is tied to selected specimen (fecal DNA samples) of three Neotropical felids (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; ocelot, Leopardus pardalis) collected in Belize, Central America.ATP6_BZ_FelidsAlignment of adenosine triphosphate-6 (ATP6-DF3, ATP6-DR2, Chaves et al. 2012) sequence data in nexus format. Sample ID is tied to selected specimen (fecal DNA samples) of three Neotropical felids (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; ocelot, Leopardus pardalis) collected in Belize, Central America.