Multiple paternity in free-living root voles (Microtus oeconomus).
We used 10 microsatellite loci to determine the mating system and male reproductive success in a natural population of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus). By genotyping 21 females and their 111 offspring (5.28+/-0.27 S.E. pups per female), we found evidence for multiple paternity in 38% of the litters sired by two or three males. Paternity was not significantly skewed away from the null expectation of equal proportions of offspring sired in any of the multiple-sired litters, and the most successful male fathered between 40% and 60% of the pups in a litter. The results indicate that promiscuity is a common mode of reproduction, consistent with the previous classification of the mating system based on the spatial structure of the root vole population.
Borkowska
Anetta
A
Institute of Biology, University of Białystok, Swierkowa 20B, PL15-950 Białystok, Poland. abork@uwb.edu.pl
Borowski
Zbigniew
Z
Krysiuk
Kamil
K
D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D010334:Paternity; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal