A set of highly polymorphic microsatellite markers developed for the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus)

The eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) has increased in numbers leading to over-abundant populations in areas of eastern Australia. We have developed nine highly polymorphic microsatellite loci to investigate their population structure and mating systems to manage this species more effectively. These loci show high levels of allelic diversity with the numbers of alleles ranging from 8 to 19 and with observed heterozygosities of 0.750-0.958. Null alleles or allelic dropouts were not detected when comparing animals of known pedigree.