Greater bushbabies, strepsirrhine primates, that are distributed across central, eastern and southern Africa, with northern and eastern South Africa representing the species' most southerly distribution. Greater bushbabies are habitat specialists whose naturally fragmented habitats are getting even more fragmented due to anthropogenic activities. Currently, there is no population genetic data or study published on the species. The aim of our study was to investigate the genetic variation in a thick-tailed bushbaby, Otolemur crassicaudatus, population in the Soutpansberg mountain range, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Four mitochondrial regions, ranging from highly conserved to highly variable, were sequenced from 47 individuals. The sequences were aligned and genetic diversity, structure, as well as demographic analyses were performed. Low genetic diversity (π = 0.0007-0.0038 in coding regions and π = 0.0127 in non-coding region; Hd = 0.166-0.569 in coding regions and Hd = 0.584 in non-coding region) and sub-structuring (H = 2-3 in coding regions and H = 4 in non-coding region) was observed with two divergent haplogroups (haplotype pairwise distance = 3-5 in coding region and 6-10 in non-coding region) being identified. This suggests the population may have experienced fixation of mitochondrial haplotypes due to limited female immigration, which is consistent with philopatric species, that alternative haplotypes are not native to this population, and that there may be male mobility from adjacent populations. This study provides the first detailed insights into the mitochondrial genetic diversity of a continental African strepsirrhine primate and demonstrates the utility of mitochondrial DNA in intraspecific genetic population analyses of these primates.

中文翻译：

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基于四个线粒体DNA区域，来自南非北部Soutpansberg山脉的厚尾布什婴儿（Otolemur crassicaudatus）的种群遗传结构。

分布在非洲中部，东部和南部的较大的灌木丛宝宝，链霉菌灵长类动物，而南非的北部和东部则代表该物种的最南端分布。较大的丛林宝宝是栖息地专家，由于人为活动，其自然零散的栖息地变得更加零散。当前，没有关于该物种的种群遗传数据或研究发表。我们研究的目的是调查南非林波波省Soutpansberg山脉的厚尾灌木丛婴儿Otolemur crassicaudatus的遗传变异。从47个个体中测序了四个线粒体区域，从高度保守到高度可变。对序列进行比对，并进行遗传多样性，结构和人口统计分析。遗传多样性低（亚基（H = 2-3）;在编码区的π= 0.0007-0.0038，非编码区的π= 0.0127;编码区的Hd = 0.166-0.569，非编码区的Hd = 0.584）观察到编码区中的单倍型和非编码区中的H = 4），并鉴定出两个不同的单倍群（单倍型成对距离=编码区中的3-5，非编码区中的6-10）。这表明由于有限的女性移民，该人群可能经历了线粒体单倍型的固定，这与音系种类一致，替代单倍型不是该人群的本性，并且邻近人群可能有男性迁徙。