title: Multiple Paternity in a Reintroduced Population of the Orinoco Crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) at the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela.
abstract: The success of a reintroduction program is determined by the ability of individuals to reproduce and thrive. Hence, an understanding of the mating system and breeding strategies of reintroduced species can be critical to the success, evaluation and effective management of reintroduction programs. As one of the most threatened crocodile species in the world, the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) has been reduced to only a few wild populations in the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia. One of these populations was founded by reintroduction at Caño Macanillal and La Ramera lagoon within the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela. Twenty egg clutches of C. intermedius were collected at the El Frío Biological Station for incubation in the lab and release of juveniles after one year. Analyzing 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci from 335 hatchlings we found multiple paternity in C. intermedius, with half of the 20 clutches fathered by two or three males. Sixteen mothers and 14 fathers were inferred by reconstruction of multilocus parental genotypes. Our findings showed skewed paternal contributions to multiple-sired clutches in four of the clutches (40%), leading to an overall unequal contribution of offspring among fathers with six of the 14 inferred males fathering 90% of the total offspring, and three of those six males fathering more than 70% of the total offspring. Our results provide the first evidence of multiple paternity occurring in the Orinoco crocodile and confirm the success of reintroduction efforts of this critically endangered species in the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.|Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Natalia A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Rossi Lafferriere
authors.affiliation: Fundación Palmarito Casanare, Bogotá, Colombia.|Dpto. Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.|Estación Biológica El Frío, Apure, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Antelo
authors.affiliation: Dpto. Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.|LSU Museum of Natural Science, Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alda
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mårtensson
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, Wales, United Kingdom.|Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, United States of America.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hailer
authors.affiliation: Lab. de Sistemática de Vertebrados, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brasil.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castroviejo-Fisher
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica El Frío, Apure, Venezuela.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ayarzagüena
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States of America.|Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Joshua R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ginsberg
authors.affiliation: Estación Biológica El Frío, Apure, Venezuela.|Asociación Amigos de Doñana, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castroviejo
authors.affiliation: Dpto. Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Doadrio
authors.affiliation: Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vilá
authors.affiliation: Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amato
mesh_terms: D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D005819:Genetic Markers; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010334:Paternity; D014687:Venezuela
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers