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Roe deer on ice: Selection despite limited effective population size through the Pleistocene
Author(s) -
Alexander Alana,
Dutoit Ludovic
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1111/mec.15511
Subject(s) - capreolus , biology , roe deer , selection (genetic algorithm) , natural selection , ecology , effective population size , population , pleistocene , diapause , trait , evolutionary biology , sexual selection , zoology , genetic variation , demography , gene , genetics , paleontology , larva , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , programming language
Roe deer ( Capreolus spp.) are a little odd. They are one of only a few placental mammals—and the only genus among even‐toed ungulates—capable of putting embryonic development “on ice”, also known as embryonic diapause (Figure 1). It would seem such an unusual trait is probably the product of natural selection, but a big question is, how does selection for important traits, such as diapause, interact with the historical demography of a species? In a ‘From the Cover’ article in this issue of Molecular Ecology , de Jong et al. (2020) demonstrate that selection is acting on genes associated with reproductive biology in roe deer, despite heightened genetic drift due to reduced effective population size through the Pleistocene.