Chromosome painting shows that <em>Pygathrix nemaeus</em> has the most basal karyotype among Asian Colobinae.

We mapped the chromosomal homology of Pygathrix namaeus (douc) with human and other primates by in situ hybridization of human chromosome paints. The synteny of 3 human chromosomes ( 1, 2, 19) is fragmented in the douc karyotype and the 23 human probes (autosomes plus X) provided 26 signals. There are associations between human chromosomes 14/15, 21/22, and 1/19. Human chromosomes 1 and 19 are divided in two segments and associated on douc chromosomes 8 and 10. The fragmentation and association of human chromosomes 1 and 19 is best explained as the result of a reciprocal translocation, which occurs in all documented Asian colobines studied, but not in the African species Colobus guereza. However, the homologs to douc chromosome 10 in all other Asian documented colobines show an additional pericentric inversion. Our results indicate that Pygathrix nemeus is karyologically the most conservative colobine species yet studied and that this species probably diverged early after the separation of Asian and African Colobinae. The data reinforce the monophyly of the Colobinae and their division into an African and an Asian clade

Environmental justice in Cuba

'Environmental justice' refers to the human right to a healthy and safe environment, a fair share of natural resources, access to environmental information and participation in environmental decision-making. Some analysts have argued that environmental justice is undermined by the political economy of capitalism. This paper builds on this analysis by evaluating the environmental justice situation in Cuba, a country where there is little capitalist influence. Evidence is based on participant observation and interviews in Cuba, as well as secondary quantitative data. The research findings suggest that Cuba fares relatively well in terms of environmental justice, but still faces a number of challenges regarding the quality of its environment and some aspects of the environmental decision-making process. However, many of its ongoing problems can be attributed to global capitalist pressures. © The Author(s), 2011