Welcome to the homepage of the manatee genetics group at the University of Florida!

The genetics of the Florida manatee have been studied using several different molecular methods 1, 2, 3. All have shown low genetic diversity in the Florida subspecies as compared to the related Antillean manatee. The most recent phylogeographical study was conducted by Vianna, et al. (2006) 4. The figure below is from that article. Basically, these mtDNA studies have suggested that there were two radiations of manatees from South America. One towards Mexico and one towards the Caribbean islands and eventually to Florida.

Only one mtDNA haplotype was discovered for Florida, requiring a higher-resolution genetic marker was required to study the fine-scale structure of this subspecies. Microsatellite DNA markers were developed 5, however they were not highly polymorphic, and could not produce unique multilocus genotypes for individual manatees. Additional markers have been developed by the UF group and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, and are being used for these studies.

For more information, email me.

References:

1. McClenaghan LR, O'Shea TJ (1988) Genetic variability in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus). Journal of Mammalogy 69, 481-488.

2. Bradley JL, Wright SD, McGuire PM (1993) The Florida manatee - Cytochrome-B DNA sequence. Marine Mammal Science 9, 197-202.

3. Garcia-Rodriguez AI, Bowen BW, Domning DP, et al. (1998) Phylogeography of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus): How many populations and how many taxa? Molecular Ecology 7, 1137-1149.

4. Vianna JA, Bonde RK, Caballero S, et al. (2006) Phylogeography, phylogeny and hybridization in trichechid sirenians: Implications for manatee conservation. Molecular Ecology 15, 433-447.

5 Garcia-Rodriguez AI, Moraga-Amador D, Farmerie W, McGuire P, King TL (2000) Isolation and characterization of microsatellite DNA markers in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and their application in selected sirenian species. Molecular Ecology 9, 2161-2163.

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