CENETIC AND SUBSPECIES DIVERGENCES WITHIN THE RED PANDA (CARNIVORA:PROCYONIDAE)

For subspecies divergence of red panda,two subspecies of the red panda ( A.f.fulgens and A.f.styani ) have been described.However,the validity of these two subspecies is argued because of the significant variation in coloration among individuals of same subspecies.Therefore,further taxonomic study within the genus is recommended by the conservation biologists to examine the validity of the two described subspecies.In this study,DNA fingerprinting technique is applied to validate the present subspecific status of red panda.Our results obtained from DNA fingerprints indicate that all individuals of A.f.styani have a 8 4?kb band which the individuals of A.f.fulgens lack.Conversely,all individuals of A.f.fulgens share another band of 1 8?kb which individuals of A.f.styani lack.These two characteristic bands can pass on parents to offsprings,which meet Mendelian fashion.Furthermore,differences in polymorphic and genetic variations between two subspecies also indicate that the gene flow between two subspecies might become smaller and smaller after these two subspecies are formed.This further supports that there are genetic divergences of two subspecies and the status of two subspecies is valid from the view of genetic level.