Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are an enigmatic, high-altitude species whose challenging habitat, low population densities and patchy distribution have presented challenges for scientists studying its biology, population structure, and genetics. Molecular scatology brings a new hope for conservation efforts by providing valuable insights about snow leopards, including their distribution, population densities, connectivity, habitat use, and population structure for assigning conservation units. However, traditional amplification of microsatellites from non-invasive sources of DNA are accompanied by significant genotyping errors due to low DNA yield and poor quality. These errors can lead to incorrect inferences in the number of individuals and estimates of genetic diversity. Next generation technologies have revolutionized the depth of information we can get from a species’ genome. Here we used double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq), a well-established technique for studying non-model organisms, to develop a reference sequence library for snow leopards using blood samples from five Mongolian individuals. Our final data set reveals 4504 loci with a median size range of 221 bp. We identified 697 SNPs and low nucleotide diversity (0.00032) within these loci. However, the probability that two random individuals will share identical genotypes is about 10⁻¹⁶⁸. We developed probes for DNA capture using this sequence library which can now be used for genotyping individuals from scat samples. Genetic data from ddRAD-seq will be invaluable for conducting population and landscape scale studies that can inform snow leopard conservation strategies.

雪豹（豹））是一种神秘的高空物种，其具有挑战性的栖息地，低种群密度和斑驳的分布给研究其生物学，种群结构和遗传学的科学家带来了挑战。分子粪便学通过提供有关雪豹的宝贵见解（包括雪豹的分布，种群密度，连通性，栖息地使用和用于分配保护单位的种群结构），为保护工作带来了新希望。然而，由于DNA产量低和质量差，传统的从非侵入性DNA来源扩增微卫星伴随着明显的基因分型错误。这些错误可能导致对个体数量的错误推断以及对遗传多样性的估计。下一代技术彻底改变了我们从物种基因组中可以获得的信息深度。在这里，我们使用双重消化限制性位点相关的DNA测序（ddRAD-seq）（一种成熟的研究非模式生物的技术），使用来自五个蒙古人的血液样本为雪豹开发了参考序列库。我们的最终数据集揭示了4504个位点，中位大小范围为221 bp。我们在这些基因座中鉴定出697个SNP和低核苷酸多样性（0.00032）。但是，两个随机个体将共享相同的基因型的概率约为10 利用来自五个蒙古人的血液样本开发雪豹参考序列库。我们的最终数据集揭示了4504个位点，中位大小范围为221 bp。我们在这些基因座中鉴定出697个SNP和低核苷酸多样性（0.00032）。但是，两个随机个体将共享相同的基因型的概率约为10 使用来自五个蒙古人的血液样本开发雪豹参考序列库。我们的最终数据集揭示了4504个位点，中位大小范围为221 bp。我们在这些基因座中鉴定出697个SNP和低核苷酸多样性（0.00032）。但是，两个随机个体将共享相同的基因型的概率约为10⁻¹⁶⁸。我们开发了使用该序列库进行DNA捕获的探针，该探针现在可用于对粪便样本中的个体进行基因分型。来自ddRAD-seq的遗传数据对于开展种群和景观尺度研究将具有重要价值，这些研究可为雪豹保护策略提供依据。