Blood protein variation in a population of Ethiopian vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops).

Seven small groups of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops), totaling 124 individuals, from Awash National Park, Ethiopia, were trapped and blood samples were obtained. Twenty-three loci were examined by starch gel electrophoresis and four loci, Tf, E, ADA, and PMG2 were found to be polymorphic. The average heterozygosity (H) of the population was calculated to be 5.6%. No significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium proportions occurred and a chi-square test for group homogeneity was also not significant. Average Fst for all polymorphic loci was calculated to be 0.062. This suggests that the entire group functions as a single Mendelian population.