Kinship analysis reveals reproductive success skewed toward overwintered Brandt's voles in semi-natural enclosures

Integrative Zoology
Yan ChenXiaohui Liu

Abstract

Age structure and seasonality influence the population fluctuations of small rodents. Age determines body weight and social experience, while seasonality regulates the duration of the breeding season and onset of sexual maturity in newborn offspring. Therefore, reproductive success and skew usually occur in different age groups. Brandt's vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii) is a social, short-lived and seasonal breeding small rodent with a dramatic seasonal population fluctuation, but reproductive skew is not fully understood in this species. In the present study, we determined kinship in semi-natural enclosure populations using microsatellite markers based on genotyping, analyzed the reproductive skew between sexes and between overwintered and newborn voles, and monitored variation in male reproductive activity by testing fecal testosterone levels throughout the year. Overwintered voles had the most reproductive success along with a striking increase in the population size in the enclosures, with all biological fathers and 77.8% of biological mothers, which had 100% and 87% of the total offspring, respectively. Compared to overwintered voles, reproductive skews were significantly higher in potential overwintered and newborn parents, i...Continue Reading

References

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Nov 1, 1998·The Journal of Animal Ecology·E Tkadlec, J Zejda

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Citations

Apr 4, 2021·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Lin TianXiao-Hui Liu
Oct 16, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Guoliang LiZhibin Zhang

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