Mandible asymmetry and genetic diversity in island populations of the common shrew, Sorex araneus

Mandibles from 13 island and six mainland populations of common shrews from the west coast of Scotland were subjected to geometric morphometric analysis in order to investigate the relationship between genetic diversity and fluctuating asymmetry. Although population mean shape fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and size FA were significantly inversely correlated with population genetic diversity this result was substantially due to one island. Sanda, the smallest island with by far the lowest genetic diversity, also had the highest FA. When Sanda was removed from the analysis, the relationship was not significant. There was no relationship between genetic diversity and FA at the individual level, whether measured as mean locus heterozygosity or d(2). In general, if genetic variation affects FA at all, the effect is weak and may only be of biological interest in very small populations.