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Polyandry by wood mice in natural populations
Author(s) -
Booth W.,
Montgomery W. I.,
Prodöhl P. A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00312.x
Subject(s) - biology , apodemus , wood mouse , litter , range (aeronautics) , zoology , microsatellite , offspring , inbreeding , ecology , reproduction , habitat , allele , population , genetics , demography , gene , materials science , pregnancy , sociology , composite material
Multiple paternity was investigated for the first time in natural populations of the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus . Thirteen females and their respective litters sampled within distinct habitats, seasons and years were screened for eight microsatellite loci. Allelic variation was compared with a dataset comprising 307 adult mice collected from the same source populations as pregnant females. Multiple paternity was unambiguously identified in seven litters (53.8%). In each case, a minimum of two or three male parents were involved. Populations of A. sylvaticus inhabiting the northern latitudes of the species range are characterized by annual cycles of abundance during which numbers can fluctuate by several orders of magnitude. Hence, the discovery of multiple paternity within litters sampled between May and July (high and low densities, respectively) in all years suggests that polyandry maximizes genetic diversity of the litter and, hence, survival of some of the offspring through such cycles. The results indicate that polyandry is a common mode of reproduction within wild populations of A. sylvaticus .