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DNA fingerprinting reveals polygyny in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum
Author(s) -
Zenuto Roxana R.,
Lacey Eileen A.,
Busch Cristina
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-294x.1999.00715.x
Subject(s) - biology , dna profiling , rodent , polygyny , evolutionary biology , dna , genetics , ecology , population , demography , sociology
DNA fingerprinting was used to characterize patterns of paternity in two populations of Ctenomys talarum from Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The multilocus probe PV47–2 was used to detect variation in genomic DNA extracted from 12 females, their 32 offspring, and 14 putative sires. For 11 out of 12 litters examined, a single male capable of providing all nonmaternal bands was identified. Within each study population, individual males sired more than one litter, suggesting that C. talarum is polygynous. No evidence of multiple paternity of litters was found. High band‐sharing values among females suggest that further research is needed to assess the population genetic structure of this species.