American Journal of Primatology 56:237–243 (2002) © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Effectiveness of Human Microsatellite Loci for Assessing Paternity in a Captive Colony of Vervets (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) TIMOTHY K. NEWMAN 1 *, LYNN A. FAIRBANKS 2 , DEBORAH POLLACK 2 , AND JEFFREY ROGERS 1,3 1 Department of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Texas 2 Neuropsychiatric Institute, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 3 Southwest Regional Primate Research Center, San Antonio, Texas Microsatellite polymorphisms are playing an increasingly vital role in primatological research, and are particularly useful for paternity ex- clusion in both wild and captive populations. Although vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) are commonly studied in both settings, few pre- vious studies have utilized microsatellite markers for assessing genetic variation in this species. In a pilot project to assess paternity in the UCLA-VA Vervet Monkey Research Colony (VMRC), we screened 55 com- mercially available human microsatellite markers chosen from a panel of 370 that have been shown to be polymorphic in baboons (Papio hamadryas). Using a standard PCR protocol, 43 (78%) loci produced amplifiable product. Of these, 14 were polymorphic and 11 were genotyped in 51 individuals, including 19 offspring and 14 potential sires. The average heterozygosity across the 11 loci was .719. In all 19 paternity cases all but one male was excluded as the true sire at two or more loci. This includes successfully distinguishing between two ma- ternal half-sib brothers who were potential sires in most of the pater- nity cases. Given that the colony is descended from 54 wild-caught founders trapped between 1975 and 1987 from an introduced popula- tion on St. Kitts, West Indies, these values imply high microsatellite variability in natural vervet populations. Our results provide a panel of markers derived from the human genome that is suitable for assess- ing genetic variation and paternity in vervets. Am. J. Primatol. 56:237– 243, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: paternity analysis; vervets; microsatellites Contract grant sponsor: Southwest Foundation Forum; Contract grant sponsor: National Institutes of Health; Contract grant number: R01-RR08781; Neuropsychiatric Institute Opportunity Funds. *Correspondence to: Tim Newman, Ph.D., National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, NIH Animal Center, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, Primate Section, P.O. Box 529, Building 112, Poolesville, MD 20837. E-mail: tknewman@mail.nih.gov Received 29 March 2001; revision accepted 3 January 2002 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.1078 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).