scholarly journals Living a dog’s life: a putative gray wolf in a feral dog group

Mammalia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-120
Author(s):  
Elitsa Popova ◽  
Diana Zlatanova

AbstractThe gray wolf and the domestic dog are closely related species that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. In settings where unrestrained dogs are present in the wild, hybridization can happen naturally. However, the behavior of the resulting hybrids and their ecological impact is largely understudied. In September–November 2018, a putative gray wolf was repeatedly camera-trapped in a group of 10 presumably feral dogs in a remote mountainous area (the Osogovo Mountain) along the border between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The most feasible explanation for this individual’s atypical behavior is that it is of hybrid origin (assumption based on phenotype). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented observation of such a kind. A discussion of its recruitment and position in the group is presented, setting the basis for further investigation of the complex interaction between wolves, dogs and hybrids in the wild.

1967 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Wolda

A number of samples from wild populations of the Queensland fruit fly, Dacus tryoni and D. neohumeralis, were studied. There is a considerable variation in the colour pattern on the humeral callus. This variation is continuous so that any criterion for distinguishing between "intermediates" and "good species" is purely arbitrary. It was found in areas where D. neohumeralis does not occur as well as in localities where it is very abundant. By whatever criterion one defines intermediates, there appears to be no relation between the frequency of such forms and the presence or absence of D. neohumeralis or with the relative proportions of the two species in the population. However, flies with only a very small yellow area on an otherwise brown humeral callus were found only in Cairns where D. neohumeralis is usually the most abundant species. A similar variation in humeral callus pattern was found in other related species, such as D. kraussi and D. halfordiae. It is concluded that the intermediate colour forms may not be hybrids between D. tryoni and D. neohumeralis but variants of D. tryoni and, possibly the darker forms from Cairns, of D. neohumeralis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 20170208 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Anders Nilsson ◽  
Kaj Hulthén ◽  
Ben B. Chapman ◽  
Lars-Anders Hansson ◽  
Jakob Brodersen ◽  
...  

Species integrity can be challenged, and even eroded, if closely related species can hybridize and produce fertile offspring of comparable fitness to that of parental species. The maintenance of newly diverged or closely related species therefore hinges on the establishment and effectiveness of pre- and/or post-zygotic reproductive barriers. Ecological selection, including predation, is often presumed to contribute to reduced hybrid fitness, but field evidence for a predation cost to hybridization remains elusive. Here we provide proof-of-concept for predation on hybrids being a postzygotic barrier to gene flow in the wild. Cyprinid fishes commonly produce fertile, viable hybrid offspring and therefore make excellent study organisms to investigate ecological costs to hybrids. We electronically tagged two freshwater cyprinid fish species (roach Rutilus rutilus and bream Abramis brama ) and their hybrids in 2005. Tagged fish were returned to their lake of origin, exposing them to natural predation risk from apex avian predators (great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo ). Scanning for regurgitated tags under cormorant roosts 3–4 years later identified cormorant-killed individual fish and allowed us to directly test for a predation cost to hybrids in the wild. Hybrid individuals were found significantly more susceptible to cormorant predation than individuals from either parental species. Such ecological selection against hybrids contributes to species integrity, and can enhance species diversification.


F1000Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew H. Baird ◽  
Vivian R. Cumbo ◽  
Joana Figueiredo ◽  
Saki Harii

Hybridization is often cited as a potential source of evolutionary novelty in the order Scleractinia. While hybrid embryos can be produced in vitro, it has been difficult to identify adult hybrids in the wild. Here, we tested the potential for hybridization between two closely related species in the family Fungiidae. We mixed approximately 5000 eggs of Ctenactis echinata with sperm from Ctenactis crass. No hybrid embryos were produced. This observation adds to a growing body of evidence for pre-zygotic barriers to hybridization in corals and challenges the claim that hybridization is a major source of evolutionary novelty in the order.


Author(s):  
Miriam Rothschild

The advantage of using laboratory-reared animals in the elucidation of trematode life histories is now generally recognized (Palombi, 1938; Stunkard, 1938, etc.). Further researches seem to emphasize this point. No matter how carefully controls are examined and no matter how precise is the morphological comparison between cercaria, metacercaria and adult fluke, the fact that the intermediate and final hosts have been exposed to previous infection in the wild—particularly by closely related species of worms—immediately detracts from the value of the experiments.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah R Heilbronner ◽  
Alexandra G Rosati ◽  
Jeffrey R Stevens ◽  
Brian Hare ◽  
Marc D Hauser

Human and non-human animals tend to avoid risky prospects. If such patterns of economic choice are adaptive, risk preferences should reflect the typical decision-making environments faced by organisms. However, this approach has not been widely used to examine the risk sensitivity in closely related species with different ecologies. Here, we experimentally examined risk-sensitive behaviour in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) and bonobos ( Pan paniscus ), closely related species whose distinct ecologies are thought to be the major selective force shaping their unique behavioural repertoires. Because chimpanzees exploit riskier food sources in the wild, we predicted that they would exhibit greater tolerance for risk in choices about food. Results confirmed this prediction: chimpanzees significantly preferred the risky option, whereas bonobos preferred the fixed option. These results provide a relatively rare example of risk-prone behaviour in the context of gains and show how ecological pressures can sculpt economic decision making.


Genetics ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-508
Author(s):  
Esko Suomalainen ◽  
Anssi Saura

ABSTRACT The genetic variability at enzyme loci in different triploid and tetraploid parthenogenetic weevil populations has been elucidated by starch gel electrophoresis. The overall genotype of individual weevils belonging to different populations has been determined for over 25 loci. The results are compared with those obtained for diploid bisexual races of either the same or closely related species. The variation within a parthenogenetic population differs from that in diploid, sexually reproducing populations, i.e. the allele frequencies are not in a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The results indicate that apomictic parthenogenetic populations can differentiate genetically. The genotypes within a population resemble each other more than genotypes belonging to different populations. It is evident that evolution still continues-even if slowed down—in parthenogenetic weevils. A comparison between the allele relationships in geographically isolated polyploid parthenogenetic populations and related diploid bisexual forms does not support the hypothetical hybrid origin of parthenogenesis and polyploidy in weevils. Parthenogenesis within a parthenogenetic weevil species is evidently monophyletic.


1997 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
PIERRE PERNIN ◽  
MARIE LOUISE CARIOU

Genetic diversity of natural populations of the two species Naegleria gruberi and N. australiensis collected at the same time in the same area was studied using multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE analysis). Reference strains and related species were also analysed for comparison. Five loci were found to be polymorphic and allowed identification of 19 different multilocus genotypes among 67 isolates – eight for N. gruberi and 11 for N. australiensis – none being common to the two species. Large departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were found at all the loci, with significant heterozygote deficiencies in most cases. The two species exhibited strong linkage disequilibrium and the predominance of a few multilocus genotypes within each species was observed. These lines of evidence strongly suggest non-random association of alleles, leading to the conclusion that N. gruberi and N. australiensis have predominantly clonal genetic structures in the wild. Populations consist of a few major clones with some closely related ones – a structure found for several parasitic protozoans and bacteria. This contrasts with the panmictic structure found for N. lovaniensis, another species of this genus, and suggests that closely related species within the genus have evolved to have different reproductive strategies.


Author(s):  
E.Zh. Baiakhmetov ◽  
◽  
P.D. Gudkova ◽  
M. Nobis ◽  
◽  
...  

Hybridisation in the wild between closely related species is a common mechanism of speciation in the plant kingdom and, in particular, in the grass family. Here we show the usefulness of integrative taxonomy as a tool for revealing hybridisation events in Stipa (one of the largest genera in Poaceae). We demonstrate the usage of the classical morphological approach combining with scanning electron microscopy data, as well as analyses of pollen grains, and the application of molecular techniques including data derived from next generation sequencing. We illustrate the application of this integrative tool by specific examples: (1) in the S. × heptapotamica hybrid complex comprising morphologically distant but genetically closely related species, and (2) in the S. × lazkovii hybrid complex containing genetically distant species.


2005 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 606-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
i. c. mcmanus

although there are some common underlying mechanisms for many nonhuman behavioural asymmetries, the evidence at present is not compelling for commonalities in cerebral organisation across vertebrates. phylogenetic analysis of detour behaviour in fish suggests that more closely related species are not particularly similar in the direction of turning; contingency and demands of ecological niches may better explain such asymmetries.


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