Scientists conduct lemur DNA study

U.S. scientists have swabbed the cheeks of more than 200 lemurs and other primates, collecting DNA to detail the animals' evolutionary family tree.

Researchers from the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy and the Duke Lemur Center conducted the research on the island nation of Madagascar, off Africa's southeastern coast -- the only natural environment of lemurs and their close relatives, the lorises.

They represent the sister lineage to all other primates and that makes lemurs and lorises key to understanding what distinguishes humans and the rest of their primate cousins from other animals, postdoctoral researcher Julie Horvath said.

If we find a trait or characteristic shared between lemurs and other primates, it can tell us what is or isn't primate-specific and when those traits arose, said Horvath.

The new phylogenomic toolkit the researchers developed will also assist conservation efforts aimed at saving the critically endangered lemurs by helping define the number of existing species, said David Weisrock, a postdoctoral researcher working with Duke Lemur Center Director Anne Yoder.

The study is reported in the journal Genome Research.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International