Journal article
Female-Biased Dispersal and Gene Flow in a Behaviorally Monogamous Mammal, the Large Treeshrew (Tupaia tana)
PloS one, v 3(9), pe3228
17 Sep 2008
PMID: 18797506
Abstract
Background: Female-biased dispersal (FBD) is predicted to occur in monogamous species due to local resource competition among females, but evidence for this association in mammals is scarce. The predicted relationship between FBD and monogamy may also be too simplistic, given that many pair-living mammals exhibit substantial extra-pair paternity.
Methodology/Principal Findings: I examined whether dispersal and gene flow are female-biased in the large treeshrew (Tupaia tana) in Borneo, a behaviorally monogamous species with a genetic mating system characterized by high rates (50%) of extra-pair paternity. Genetic analyses provided evidence of FBD in this species. As predicted for FBD, I found lower mean values for the corrected assignment index for adult females than for males using seven microsatellite loci, indicating that female individuals were more likely to be immigrants. Adult female pairs were also less related than adult male pairs. Furthermore, comparison of Bayesian coalescent-based estimates of migration rates using maternally and bi-parentally inherited genetic markers suggested that gene flow is female-biased in T. tana. The effective number of migrants between populations estimated from mitochondrial DNA sequence was three times higher than the number estimated using autosomal microsatellites.
Conclusions/Significance: These results provide the first evidence of FBD in a behaviorally monogamous species without mating fidelity. I argue that competition among females for feeding territories creates a sexual asymmetry in the costs and benefits of dispersal in treeshrews.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Female-Biased Dispersal and Gene Flow in a Behaviorally Monogamous Mammal, the Large Treeshrew (Tupaia tana)
- Creators
- Jason Munshi-South - Univ Maryland, Dept Biol, Behavior, Ecol, Evolut & Syst Program, College Pk, MD 20742 USA
- Publication Details
- PloS one, v 3(9), pe3228
- Publisher
- Public Library Science
- Number of pages
- 6
- Grant note
- Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation Royal Society Southeast Asian Rainforest Research Programme University of Malaysia, Sabah Cleveland Zoological Society Sigma Xi Explorers Club Animal Behavior Society American Society of Mammalogists Danum Valley Management Committee University of Maryland
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000264428200007
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-52449094108
- Other Identifier
- 991021903954004721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Ecology