TY - JOUR
T1 - Insights into population ecology and sexual selection in snakes through the application of DNA-based genetic markers
AU - Gibbs, H. Lisle
AU - Weatherhead, P. J.
N1 - From the Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada (Gibbs) and Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Weatherhead). P. J. Weatherhead is currently at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. We thank all our collaborators and assistants in our studies reviewed here, particularly Gabriel Blouin-Demers, Greg Brown, Chris Parent, Melanie Prosser, Kent Prior, Steven Lougheed, and Lilie DeSousa. This research has been supported by research grants from NSERC (Canada) and Parks Canada. Address correspondence to H. Lisle Gibbs at the address above or e-mail: [email protected]. This paper was delivered at a symposium entitled ‘‘DNA-Based Profiling of Mating Systems and Reproductive Behaviors in Poikilothermic Vertebrates’’ sponsored by the American Genetic Association at Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA, June 17–20, 2000.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Hypervariable genetic markers have revolutionized studies of kinship, behavioral ecology, and population biology in vertebrate groups such as birds, but their use in snakes remains limited. To illustrate the value of such markers in snakes, we review studies that have used microsatellite DNA loci to analyze local population differentiation and parentage in snakes. Four ecologically distinct species of snakes all show evidence for differentiation at small spatial scales (2-15 km), but with substantial differences among species. This result highlights how genetic analysis can reveal hidden aspects of the natural history of difficult-to-observe taxa, and it raises important questions about the ecological factors that may contribute to restricted gene flow. A 3-year study of genetic parentage in marked populations of the northern water snake showed that (1) participation in mating aggregations was a poor predictor of genetic-based measures of reproductive success; (2) multiple paternity was high, yet there was no detectable fitness advantage to multiple mating by females; and (3) the opportunity for selection was far higher in males than in females due to a larger variance in male reproductive success, and yet this resulted in no detectable selection on morphological variation in males. Thus genetic markers have provided accurate measures of individual reproductive success in this species, an important step toward resolving the adaptive significance of key features including multiple paternity and reversed sexual size dimorphism. Overall these studies illustrate how genetic analyses of snakes provide previously unobtainable information of long-standing interest to behavioral ecologists.
AB - Hypervariable genetic markers have revolutionized studies of kinship, behavioral ecology, and population biology in vertebrate groups such as birds, but their use in snakes remains limited. To illustrate the value of such markers in snakes, we review studies that have used microsatellite DNA loci to analyze local population differentiation and parentage in snakes. Four ecologically distinct species of snakes all show evidence for differentiation at small spatial scales (2-15 km), but with substantial differences among species. This result highlights how genetic analysis can reveal hidden aspects of the natural history of difficult-to-observe taxa, and it raises important questions about the ecological factors that may contribute to restricted gene flow. A 3-year study of genetic parentage in marked populations of the northern water snake showed that (1) participation in mating aggregations was a poor predictor of genetic-based measures of reproductive success; (2) multiple paternity was high, yet there was no detectable fitness advantage to multiple mating by females; and (3) the opportunity for selection was far higher in males than in females due to a larger variance in male reproductive success, and yet this resulted in no detectable selection on morphological variation in males. Thus genetic markers have provided accurate measures of individual reproductive success in this species, an important step toward resolving the adaptive significance of key features including multiple paternity and reversed sexual size dimorphism. Overall these studies illustrate how genetic analyses of snakes provide previously unobtainable information of long-standing interest to behavioral ecologists.
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U2 - 10.1093/jhered/92.2.173
DO - 10.1093/jhered/92.2.173
M3 - Article
C2 - 11396576
AN - SCOPUS:0034993840
SN - 0022-1503
VL - 92
SP - 173
EP - 179
JO - Journal of Heredity
JF - Journal of Heredity
IS - 2
ER -