Open AccessA longitudinal study of phenotypic changes in early domestication of house mice
Author(s) -
Madeleine Geiger,
Marcelo R. SánchezVillagra,
Anna K. Lindholm
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
royal society open science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.84
H-Index - 51
ISSN - 2054-5703
DOI - 10.1098/rsos.172099
Subject(s) - domestication , biology , house mice , phenotype , population , evolutionary biology , phenotypic trait , house mouse , selection (genetic algorithm) , zoology , genetics , demography , gene , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
Similar phenotypic changes occur across many species as a result of domestication, e.g. in pigmentation and snout size. Experimental studies of domestication have concentrated on intense and directed selection regimes, while conditions that approximate the commensal and indirect interactions with humans have not been explored. We examine long-term data on a free-living population of wild house mice that have been indirectly selected for tameness by regular exposure to humans. In the course of a decade, this mouse population exhibited significantly increased occurrence of white patches of fur and decreased head length. These phenotypic changes fit to the predictions of the ‘domestication syndrome'.