Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since Darwin's pioneering work, evolutionary changes in isolated island populations of vertebrates have continued to provide the strongest evidence for the theory of natural selection. Besides macro-evolutionary changes, micro-e...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2008-10-01
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| Series: | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/296 |
| _version_ | 1818978573550092288 |
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| author | Saunanen Raimo Koskela Esa Huhta Esa Hakkarainen Harri Grapputo Alessandro Mappes Tapio Suorsa Petri |
| author_facet | Saunanen Raimo Koskela Esa Huhta Esa Hakkarainen Harri Grapputo Alessandro Mappes Tapio Suorsa Petri |
| author_sort | Saunanen Raimo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since Darwin's pioneering work, evolutionary changes in isolated island populations of vertebrates have continued to provide the strongest evidence for the theory of natural selection. Besides macro-evolutionary changes, micro-evolutionary changes and the relative importance of natural selection vs. genetic drift are under intense investigation. Our study focuses on the genetic differentiation in morphological and life-history traits in insular populations of a small mammal the bank vole <it>Myodes glareolus</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results do not support the earlier findings for larger adult size or lower reproductive effort in insular populations of small mammals. However, the individuals living on islands produced larger offspring than individuals living on the mainland. Genetic differentiation in offspring size was further confirmed by the analyses of quantitative genetics in lab. In insular populations, genetic differentiation in offspring size simultaneously decreases the additive genetic variation (<it>V</it><sub><it>A</it></sub>) for that trait. Furthermore, our analyses of differentiation in neutral marker loci (F<sub><it>st</it></sub>) indicate that <it>V</it><sub><it>A </it></sub>is less than expected on the basis of genetic drift alone, and thus, a lower <it>V</it><sub><it>A </it></sub>in insular populations could be caused by natural selection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We believe that different selection pressures (e.g. higher intraspecific competition) in an insular environment might favour larger offspring size in small mammals. Island selection for larger offspring could be the preliminary mechanism in a process which could eventually lead to a smaller litter size and lower reproductive effort frequently found in insular vertebrates.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T16:45:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26fd7d4e41fd4b9daf978fe098075345 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T16:45:47Z |
| publishDate | 2008-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-26fd7d4e41fd4b9daf978fe0980753452022-12-21T19:32:56ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482008-10-018129610.1186/1471-2148-8-296Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring sizeSaunanen RaimoKoskela EsaHuhta EsaHakkarainen HarriGrapputo AlessandroMappes TapioSuorsa Petri<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since Darwin's pioneering work, evolutionary changes in isolated island populations of vertebrates have continued to provide the strongest evidence for the theory of natural selection. Besides macro-evolutionary changes, micro-evolutionary changes and the relative importance of natural selection vs. genetic drift are under intense investigation. Our study focuses on the genetic differentiation in morphological and life-history traits in insular populations of a small mammal the bank vole <it>Myodes glareolus</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results do not support the earlier findings for larger adult size or lower reproductive effort in insular populations of small mammals. However, the individuals living on islands produced larger offspring than individuals living on the mainland. Genetic differentiation in offspring size was further confirmed by the analyses of quantitative genetics in lab. In insular populations, genetic differentiation in offspring size simultaneously decreases the additive genetic variation (<it>V</it><sub><it>A</it></sub>) for that trait. Furthermore, our analyses of differentiation in neutral marker loci (F<sub><it>st</it></sub>) indicate that <it>V</it><sub><it>A </it></sub>is less than expected on the basis of genetic drift alone, and thus, a lower <it>V</it><sub><it>A </it></sub>in insular populations could be caused by natural selection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We believe that different selection pressures (e.g. higher intraspecific competition) in an insular environment might favour larger offspring size in small mammals. Island selection for larger offspring could be the preliminary mechanism in a process which could eventually lead to a smaller litter size and lower reproductive effort frequently found in insular vertebrates.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/296 |
| spellingShingle | Saunanen Raimo Koskela Esa Huhta Esa Hakkarainen Harri Grapputo Alessandro Mappes Tapio Suorsa Petri Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| title | Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size |
| title_full | Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size |
| title_fullStr | Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size |
| title_full_unstemmed | Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size |
| title_short | Island selection on mammalian life-histories: genetic differentiation in offspring size |
| title_sort | island selection on mammalian life histories genetic differentiation in offspring size |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/296 |
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