Irreversible microevolutionary changes in genotypic composition of sika deer <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cervus nippon</Emphasis> populations in response to vegetation degradation and food shortage |
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Authors: | Ilya Sheremetev Irina Sheremeteva |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, 1103, 10252 Berlin, Germany;(2) Merial GmbH, Kathrinenhof Research Center, Walchenseestr. 8-12, 83101 Rohrdorf, Germany;(3) Wildlife Research Institute, Pützchens Chaussee 228, 53229 Bonn, Germany |
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Abstract: | The present study deals with changes in important skull characteristics of the sika deer Cervus nippon Temminck, 1838 in response to changes in food supply. Moderate food shortage results mainly in a linear reduction in skull
size, while severe food shortage results in changes in skull shape. In the deer that returned to habitats with sufficient
food supply, some skull parameters recovered to, or even exceeded, normal values, whereas other parameters remained stressed
resulting in retention or enhancement of skull distortions. Differences in skull parameters among the populations studied
were comparable to those between some cervid species, eg, the Siberian roe deer Capreolus pigargus Pallas, 1771 and European roe deer Capreolus capreolus Linnaeus, 1758 and other deer subspecies. In the introduced sika deer populations, skull distortions were apparently caused
by interspecific hybridization. Descendants of the escaped deer have not reverted to the normal phenotype, even over several
generations, providing a recent case of true evolutionary changes. This occurred by a change in the ratio of different morphotypical
groups, probably due to their different responses to food shortage. Thus sufficient food supply may account for changes in
a population’s genotypic composition through selection of characteristics that favour passing on genetic material when food
is limited. |
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