Entomology, Ornithology & Herpetology: Current Research
Open Access

Abstract

Comparison between DNA and Analyses Morphometrics as Tool for Identification of Sex of the Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos Canadensis)

Gerardo Guerra-Paramo, Fernando Garcia-Gil, Oscar Escobedo-Correa and Fidel de la Cruz Hernandez-Hernandez

The Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) is an endangered species in Mexico, and the captive breeding is relevant to its conservation. Monomorphic raptor species, such as Golden eagle, are difficult for sex determination based only on morphometric measures and plumage characteristics, and a reliable method to determine the sex of birds is important for conservation strategies. With the purpose of forming new captive breeding couples, the sex of 10 adult Golden eagles was identified using DNA analysis such as CHD gene amplification (P8, P2 primers), and by CHD amplification by ARMS technique. In addition bioinformatic, and PCA statistical analysis of morphometric characteristics were conducted. We confirmed that the P2-P8 pair of primers inside the CHD gene was not a good option for Golden eagles because fragments derived from sex specific alleles CHD-W and CHD-Z differed just in 6 bp, which are not enough to be distinguished in agarose gel electrophoresis. In contrast, sex identification in Golden eagles with ARMS technique was fast, reliable and useful, obtaining a difference of more than 60 bp between CHD-W and CHD-Z that allows discriminating directly the alleles in a simple agarose gel. The PCA analysis of morphometric characteristics indicated three significant morphological patterns that differentiated males from females.