The only autochthonous population of Tatra chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica) occurs in the Tatra Mountains (northern Slovakia and southern Poland). Another population has been introduced to the Low Tatra Mts., while Alpine chamois (R. r. rupicapra) has been introduced to the neighbouring mountain ranges, Veľká Fatra and Slovenský raj. All these populations have undergone intensive bottlenecks. Any resulting low genetic variability would mean that only few genetic markers could be used for population genetic studies due to prevailing monomorphism. We tested 65 markers previously used in chamois or other Caprinae species, from which 20 most suitable loci for noninvasive genetic study of the Tatra chamois were selected. These polymorphic loci were used for optimisation of three multiplex sets and revealed a mean number of alleles of 2.1 and mean expected heterozygosity of 0.331 for the Tatra population. Low genetic diversity was also observed in the Low Tatra population while slightly higher values were obtained for Alpine chamois population in Slovenský raj. We subsequently assessed the amplification success rate for noninvasively obtained samples (faeces), which ranged from 85.1% to 92.7% for particular loci. The developed polymorphic microsatellite sets provide a unique tool for population genetic study of the endangered Tatra chamois, even when using noninvasive sampling, and is also suitable for Alpine chamois.
The taxonomy and distribution of rodents in Zambia was comprehensively summarized in 1978 by W.F.H. Ansell in his excellent book Mammals of Zambia. Despite the fact that during the last three decades many new taxonomic revisions of African rodents were published and extensive new material collected, not much work has been done on Zambian rodents since the book publication. Here we summarize the current knowledge of one of the most speciose group of African rodents, the tribe Praomyini, in Zambia. We review available historical records and revise our recently collected material by sequencing the mitochondrial DNA gene of cytochrome b. The presence of eight species of Praomyini in Zambia is documented and the pattern of their geographical distribution is described and discussed. Two species, Praomys minor and Mastomys coucha, are reported for the first time from Zambia and Praomys cf. jacksoni probably represents a new undescribed species. On the other hand, the actual occurrence of Colomys goslingi, known in Zambia only from one historical record, is questionable. The results document the usefulness of the DNA barcoding approach for description of species diversity of taxonomically complicated groups with many cryptic species.