TECHNICAL NOTE Development and characterization of 16 microsatellites for Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth, Choloepus hoffmanni Wynne E. Moss • Jonathan N. Pauli • Gustavo A. Gutie ´rrez • Allen M. Young • Christopher Vaughan • Geovanny Herrera • M. Zachariah Peery Received: 3 March 2011 / Accepted: 20 March 2011 / Published online: 3 April 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoff- manni) is an arboreal mammal found throughout the Neo- tropics. Due to its limited dispersal power and reliance on forested habitats, C. hoffmanni could serve as a model species for understanding the response of mammals to land cover change. To better understand sloth life history and their response to tropical forest fragmentation and loss, we developed and characterized 16 polymorphic microsatellite markers. We tested each locus with 16–23 C. hoffmanni individuals sampled in northeastern Costa Rica. The num- ber of alleles per locus ranged from three to seven, while mean observed heterozygosity was 0.56 and ranged from 0.33 to 0.75. All loci met Hardy–Weinberg expectations and none of the loci exhibited significant linkage disequi- librium. The microsatellite markers developed herein will be used to investigate dispersal rates and gene flow among habitat patches in Costa Rica, as well as provide insights into the life history of two-toed sloths. Keywords Mammal  Central America  Neotropics  Xenarthra Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), an arboreal mammal, is widely distributed throughout forests of the Neotropics. Because C. hoffmanni has low dispersal power (Vaughan et al. 2007), it is likely affected by habitat loss and fragmentation. Moreover, C. hoffmanni can be locally abundant and easy to sample (Vaughan et al. 2007), potentially making it a model species for examining the effects of habitat change on gene flow and connectivity in tropical forests. Fundamental aspects of C. hoffmanni’s biology, including population density, mating systems, and dispersal rates, are poorly understood (Chiarello 2008). The development of microsatellite primers will provide a powerful tool to quantify both basic and applied aspects of two-toed sloth biology. Herein, we present 16 polymorphic microsatellite markers to be used in future genetic studies of C. hoffmanni. We tested microsatellite markers using DNA from C. hoffmanni skin tissue. We obtained samples from sloths captured in and around an organic cacao plantation, Finca Finmac, near Guapiles, Costa Rica (10.33°N, 83.59°W), following standard methods (Vaughan et al. 2007). Sloths were removed by hand from trees or living fence rows and transported to a processing site. We uniquely marked each adult with either a radio collar (male) or a colored band (female) for subsequent identification in the field. For all captured animals, a PIT tag (Biomark, Boise, ID) was inserted sub-dermally between the shoulder blades; addi- tionally, we obtained *25 mg of tissue via skin biopsy before releasing individuals at their capture site. We extracted genomic DNA from tissue samples using the DNeasy extraction kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA), which yielded 10–25 ng/lL of DNA. Extracted DNA samples were sent to Genetic Identification Services (GIS, Chatsworth, CA, www.genetic-id-services.com) for development of microsatellite-enriched libraries of motifs ATG, CATC, W. E. Moss  J. N. Pauli (&)  C. Vaughan  G. Herrera  M. Zachariah Peery Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA e-mail: jnpauli@wisc.edu G. A. Gutie ´rrez Escuela de Biologı ´a, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose ´, Costa Rica A. M. Young Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA C. Vaughan Associated Colleges of the Midwest, San Pedro, Costa Rica 123 Conservation Genet Resour (2011) 3:625–627 DOI 10.1007/s12686-011-9419-2