Blood protein variations in baboons: I. Gene exchange and genetic distance between papio anubis, papio hamadryas and their hybridi

Abstract

In central Ethiopia the hamadryas baboon, Papio hamadryas and the anubis baboons, Papio anubis, have been hybridizing naturally. Studies were made by using electrophoretical blood protein variations as markers in order to clarify the genetic interrelationships between them. A total of 414 individuals belonging to 7 populations were examined for 35 blood protein loci. Eleven of 35 loci showed polymorphism. The Tf locus was found to have the strongest power for discriminating between the anubis and the hamadryas. The results of our genetic survey revealed that most of the populations from which we collected blood samples were more or less hybridized. The Nei's (1975) genetic distance between the two species was estimated to be at most as 0.0674. As this value was too small to consider these species as real biological species, we think that the natural hybrid zone is fairly wide and still expanding now. © 1977, The Genetics Society of Japan. All rights reserved.