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- Title
FIRST RECORD OF MULTIPLE PATERNITY IN THE PYGMY RABBIT (BRACHYLAGUS IDAHOENSIS): EVIDENCE FROM ANALYSIS OF 16 MICROSATELLITE LOCI.
- Authors
Falcón, Wilfredo; Goldberg, Caren S.; Waits, Lisette P.; Estes-Zumpf, Wendy A.; Rachlow, Janet L.
- Abstract
Although promiscuity is believed to be common among leporids, little is known about the mating system of free-ranging pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis). We used 16 polymorphic microsatellite markers and DNA extracted from tissue samples of 10 rabbits from 2 litters collected in east central Idaho to evaluate paternity. We incorporated maternal genotypes for better resolution and employed an exclusion approach to detect multiple paternity. Our results demonstrated multiple paternity at 6 of the 16 loci tested for each litter. These findings support the expectation that pygmy rabbits have a promiscuous mating system. It has been proposed that multiple paternity could lead to higher effective population sizes and help small populations maintain diversity. Given that pygmy rabbits persist in small and fragmented populations, a promiscuous mating system might be important for maintaining genetic diversity in free-ranging populations and could be advantageous for the captive breeding program.
- Subjects
IDAHO; PYGMY rabbit; MULTIPLE paternity in animals; MICROSATELLITE repeats; RABBIT breeding; ANIMAL behavior
- Publication
Western North American Naturalist, 2011, Vol 71, Issue 2, p271
- ISSN
1527-0904
- Publication type
Article