Genetics of Skeletal Evolution in Unusually Large Mice from Gough Island.
Female; Male; Animals; *body size; *complex trait; *island syndrome; *phenotypic extreme; *pleiotropy; *Quantitative Trait Loci; *skeletal evolution; Body Size/*genetics; Bone and Bones/*anatomy & histology; Genetic Pleiotropy; Islands; Mice/*genetics; Molecular; *Evolution
Organisms on islands often undergo rapid morphological evolution, providing a platform for understanding mechanisms of phenotypic change. Many examples of evolution on islands involve the vertebrate skeleton. Although the genetic basis of skeletal variation has been studied in laboratory strains, especially in the house mouse Mus musculus domesticus, the genetic determinants of skeletal evolution in natural populations remain poorly understood. We used house mice living on the remote Gough Island-the largest wild house mice on record-to understand the genetics of rapid skeletal evolution in nature. Compared to a mainland reference strain from the same subspecies (WSB/EiJ), the skeleton of Gough Island mice is considerably larger, with notable expansions of the pelvis and limbs. The Gough Island mouse skeleton also displays changes in shape, including elongations of the skull and the proximal vs. distal elements in the limbs. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in a large F2 intercross between Gough Island mice and WSB/EiJ reveals hundreds of QTL that control skeletal dimensions measured at 5, 10, and/or 16 weeks of age. QTL exhibit modest, mostly additive effects, and Gough Island alleles are associated with larger skeletal size at most QTL. The QTL with the largest effects are found on a few chromosomes and affect suites of skeletal traits. Many of these loci also colocalize with QTL for body weight. The high degree of QTL colocalization is consistent with an important contribution of pleiotropy to skeletal evolution. Our results provide a rare portrait of the genetic basis of skeletal evolution in an island population and position the Gough Island mouse as a model system for understanding mechanisms of rapid evolution in nature.
Parmenter Michelle D; Gray Melissa M; Hogan Caley A; Ford Irene N; Broman Karl W; Vinyard Christopher J; Payseur Bret A
Genetics
2016
2016-12
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.116.193805" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1534/genetics.116.193805</a>
Skeletons of terrestrial cetaceans and the relationship of whales to artiodactyls.
*Biological Evolution; *Fossils; Animals; Bone and Bones/*anatomy & histology; Cetacea/anatomy & histology/*classification; Phylogeny; Skeleton; Whales/anatomy & histology/*classification
Modern members of the mammalian order Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) are obligate aquatic swimmers that are highly distinctive in morphology, lacking hair and hind limbs, and having flippers, flukes, and a streamlined body. Eocene fossils document much of cetaceans' land-to-water transition, but, until now, the most primitive representative for which a skeleton was known was clearly amphibious and lived in coastal environments. Here we report on the skeletons of two early Eocene pakicetid cetaceans, the fox-sized Ichthyolestes pinfoldi, and the wolf-sized Pakicetus attocki. Their skeletons also elucidate the relationships of cetaceans to other mammals. Morphological cladistic analyses have shown cetaceans to be most closely related to one or more mesonychians, a group of extinct, archaic ungulates, but molecular analyses have indicated that they are the sister group to hippopotamids. Our cladistic analysis indicates that cetaceans are more closely related to artiodactyls than to any mesonychian. Cetaceans are not the sister group to (any) mesonychians, nor to hippopotamids. Our analysis stops short of identifying any particular artiodactyl family as the cetacean sister group and supports monophyly of artiodactyls.
Thewissen J G; Williams E M; Roe L J; Hussain S T
Nature
2001
2001-09
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/35095005" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1038/35095005</a>