GENETICS WORK ON THE BROWN LEMUR

Genetic Difference Between Subspecies

One way to define species is to see how genetically different various populations are form one another. Look at the differences in a DNA sequence from each of the brown lemur subspecies. Among lemurs, subspecies generally have genomes at least 2% different from one another. Separate species are generally more than 5% different.

Click on two regions of the map below to see the difference between a few populations of brown lemurs on Madagascar. How is this different from the map of currently recognized subspecies (based on morpho)?

Brown lemurs are also found on the island of Mayotte, in the Comoros. Currently, these are placed in a separate subspecies called E.f.mayottenis. How close are they genetically to brown lemurs on Madagascar? Do you think they should be their own subspecies? What part of Madagascar do you think they came from?

© 2007 Wildlife Conservation Society