The cloning and characterization of cDNAs encoding the cell-surface-specific integrin receptors of baboon platelets has been undertaken to provide species-specific probes. These will be used to investigate the expression and distribution of these receptors among primate species. Clones GPIIb-16 and GPIIb-3, encoding portions of the baboon glycoprotein GPIIb, were isolated from a cDNA library derived from baboon platelet mRNA. GPIIb-3 includes an insert of 43 bp, when compared to GPIIb-16 or human GPIIb. This insert is the result of alternative processing of mRNA. The probable origin of the inserted bases is the 3 end of the intron preceeding exon 28 of the gene. A different product of alternative splicing has been reported in this same region of the human GPIIb sequence, suggesting that this location is susceptible to wobble in the intron-exon junctions. The projected shift in the reading frame of the baboon GPIIb-3 cDNA would give a radically altered C terminus of the deduced amino-acid sequence, and the possibility of a novel functional peptide on the platelet surface.