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

文献类型： 外文期刊

第一作者： Chen, Yan

作者： Chen, Yan;Wang, Dawei;Li, Ning;Hu, Xiangfa;Ren, Fei;Hao, Weili;Song, Ying;Liu, Xiaohui;Chen, Yan

作者机构：

关键词： Brandt's vole; microsatellite marker; reproductive skew; social dominance; testosterone

期刊名称：INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY （ 影响因子：2.654； 五年影响因子：2.525 ）

ISSN： 1749-4877

年卷期： 2019 年 14 卷 5 期

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： 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, implying the possible reproductive suppression of newborn voles by dominant overwintered voles. Moreover, both heavier body weight and higher testosterone levels in overwintered males supported their potential social status in the population. Our study provided new evidence for reproductive skew and differentiation of postnatal gonadal development patterns of different age groups in Brandt's vole.

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