Congenital bone deformities and the inbred wolves (Canis lupus) of Isle Royale

Räikkönen, Jannikke; Vucetich, John A.; Peterson, Rolf O.; Nelson, Michael Paul

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.01.014

Cited by 90 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…E. D. Land 2009) for many decades without detrimental genetic effects. However, a recent study by Räikkönen et al (2009) has shown that 58% of the Isle Royale wolves exhibited some kind of congenital abnormality in the vertebral column compared to around 1% in outbred populations. Although the clinical significance of these defects is not known in wolves, similar abnormalities in dogs are associated with debilitating effects (Räikkönen et al 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…However, a recent study by Räikkönen et al (2009) has shown that 58% of the Isle Royale wolves exhibited some kind of congenital abnormality in the vertebral column compared to around 1% in outbred populations. Although the clinical significance of these defects is not known in wolves, similar abnormalities in dogs are associated with debilitating effects (Räikkönen et al 2009). The Isle Royale population is thought to have been founded by one female and one or a few males in the late 1940s and its longterm effective population size has been estimated as around 3.8 (Peterson et al 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Again, this situation suggests that artificial gene flow from only a few successful animals could result in genetic rescue or restoration. However, before the extreme deterioration was documented by Räikkönen et al (2009), it had been suggested that it would be inappropriate to introduce unrelated wolves for esthetic, ecological, and political reasons (Peterson 1995;Räikkönen et al 2009), an opinion that deserves reconsideration at this point.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Genetic rescue guidelines with examples from Mexican wolves and Florida panthers

2009

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In populations or species with low fitness (high genetic load), a new management strategy called genetic rescue has been advocated to help avoid extinction. In this strategy, unrelated individuals from another population are introduced into the population with low fitness in an effort to reduce genetic load. Here we present ten guidelines that can be used to evaluate when genetic rescue is a good management option, the appropriate procedures for genetic rescue planning and management, and the potential negative genetic consequences of genetic rescue. These guidelines are then used to evaluate the genetic rescue aspects of the recovery programs for the Mexican wolf and the Florida panther.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Genetic rescue guidelines with examples from Mexican wolves and Florida panthers

2009

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“…Domesticated species usually harbor high numbers of transitional lumbosacral vertebrae, including those that originate from fast and agile wild counterparts (e.g., cats, dogs, and horses) (17,25,26) Human care relaxes selection by increasing the survival of less adapted individuals. Inbreeding probably also plays a role, as inbred wild wolves have higher numbers of transitional lumbosacral vertebrae than outbred ones (18,27). The Saiga tatarica with a transitional vertebra may well be the product of the strong inbreeding in this endangered species (28,29).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast running restricts evolutionary change of the vertebral column in mammals

Galis

Carrier

Alphen

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The mammalian vertebral column is highly variable, reflecting adaptations to a wide range of lifestyles, from burrowing in moles to flying in bats. However, in many taxa, the number of trunk vertebrae is surprisingly constant. We argue that this constancy results from strong selection against initial changes of these numbers in fast running and agile mammals, whereas such selection is weak in slower-running, sturdier mammals. The rationale is that changes of the number of trunk vertebrae require homeotic transformations from trunk into sacral vertebrae, or vice versa, and mutations toward such transformations generally produce transitional lumbosacral vertebrae that are incompletely fused to the sacrum. We hypothesize that such incomplete homeotic transformations impair flexibility of the lumbosacral joint and thereby threaten survival in species that depend on axial mobility for speed and agility. Such transformations will only marginally affect performance in slow, sturdy species, so that sufficient individuals with transitional vertebrae survive to allow eventual evolutionary changes of trunk vertebral numbers. We present data on fast and slow carnivores and artiodactyls and on slow afrotherians and monotremes that strongly support this hypothesis. The conclusion is that the selective constraints on the count of trunk vertebrae stem from a combination of developmental and biomechanical constraints.M any mammalian taxa show a remarkable conservation of the presacral vertebral count (the sum of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae; Fig. 1). For instance, carnivores almost invariably have 27 vertebrae, and artiodactyls have 26 presacral vertebrae. However, in some taxa, in particular afrotherians, there is considerable interspecific variation (1, 2). Narita and Kuratani (1) proposed that the presacral vertebral count is conserved because of developmental constraints, as is also the case for the cervical vertebral count (3, 4). We propose that developmental constraints are indeed involved and that they are interacting with biomechanical problems resulting from homeotic transformations. Homeotic transformations are necessary for changes of the presacral vertebral count (5), although it is often incorrectly thought that these changes can be solely the result of increases or decreases in the number of vertebrae of a certain region. This assumption is not true, except for vertebrae in the tail region, which is the part of the vertebral column formed last. Homeotic transformations are necessarily involved, because of the sequential head-to-tail generation of the embryonal segments from which the vertebrae develop (somites) and the patterning of these segments under the influence of head-to-tail signaling gradients (6-8). This process implies that if there is an increase in the presacral count, for instance from 26 to 27, this is caused by a homeotic transformation of the 27th vertebra from a sacral into a lumbar one, regardless of whether the total count of vertebrae changes or not (see ref. 5 for a more detailed ...

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“…Genetic malformations may be reported as an isolated, random event while others can be linked to inbreeding depression in some declining wildlife species. For example, individuals from an isolated, island population of wolves exhibited congenital malformations in the lumbosacral region while outbred individuals rarely had these malformations (Raikkonen et al 2009). Contaminants linked to malformations include organochlorine insecticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, and heavy metals such as mercury or excess selenium (Hays and Risebrough 1972;Ohlendorf et al 1986;Fernie et al 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Polymelia and Syndactyly in a Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)

Rogers

Mete

McMillin

et al. 2016

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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A hatch-year Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) recovered from Modoc County, California, US, on 12 August 2012 had malformations of the rear limbs consisting of bilateral polymelia and syndactyly. We describe the malformations and evaluate potential causes. Postmortem examination revealed varus rotation of both femurs and abnormal appendages originating from the distal medial surface of the tibiotarsi with two nonfunctional digits on the right leg and one digit on the left leg. There was syndactyly between digits III and IV of both feet. Avian pox viral dermatitis was present on the skin of the ventral abdomen. A definitive cause of the skeletal malformations was not identified.

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Congenital bone deformities and the inbred wolves (Canis lupus) of Isle Royale

Cited by 90 publications

References 46 publications

Genetic rescue guidelines with examples from Mexican wolves and Florida panthers

Genetic rescue guidelines with examples from Mexican wolves and Florida panthers

Fast running restricts evolutionary change of the vertebral column in mammals

Polymelia and Syndactyly in a Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)

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