Genetic structure in Orkney island mice: isolation promotes morphological diversification

Chevret, Pascale; Hautier, Lionel; Ganem, Guila; Herman, Jeremy S.; Agret, Sylvie; Auffray, Jean‐Christophe; Renaud, Sabrina

doi:10.1038/s41437-020-00368-8

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Swiss and wild mice displayed a consistent difference in molar shape pointing to a genetic differentiation despite the relatively recent isolation of the laboratory strain and its phylogenetic closeness to M. m. domesticus . This confirms that molar shape can evolve fast in isolation (Chevret et al, 2021), but these differences are of second order compared with the impact of wear on the molar geometry.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Molar shape determinism is however highly polygenic (Pallares et al, 2017), and epistasis may buffer phenotypic differentiation for many genes, but promotes transgression on these very traits showing no differentiation. This confirms that molar shape can evolve fast in isolation (Chevret et al, 2021), but these differences are of second order compared with the impact of wear on the molar geometry.…”

Section: Morphological Signature Of Hybridizationsupporting

confidence: 68%

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Wild versus lab house mice: Effects of age, diet, and genetics on molar geometry and topography

et al. 2021

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Molar morphology is shaped by phylogenetic history and adaptive processes related to food processing. Topographic parameters of the occlusal surface, such as sharpness and relief, can be especially informative regarding diet preferences of a species.The occlusal surface can however be deeply modified by wear throughout an animal's life, potentially obliterating other signals. Age being difficult to assess in wild populations, especially small rodents, experimental studies of wear through age in laboratory populations may constitute a powerful way to assess its impact on molar geometry and topography, and to validate descriptors of molar morphology that could mitigate this issue. Molar morphology was therefore quantified using 3D geometric morphometrics and topographic estimates in four groups of house mice: wild-trapped mice, lab-bred offspring of these wild mice, typical laboratory mice, and their hybrids.Three descriptors of the molar morphology were considered: the surface of the whole molar row, the surface of the first upper molar, and a truncated template of the first upper molar mimicking advanced wear. Increasing wear with age was demonstrated in the different groups, with a more pronounced effect in the wild-trapped population.The geometry of the molar row is not only modified by wear, but also by the relative position of the late developing molars on the jaw due to loading during mastication.As a consequence, the alignment of the molars is modified in wild mice, showing a qualitative difference between wild animals and their lab-bred offspring. Results obtained from the lab should thus be transferred with caution to the interpretation of differences in wild populations. Topographic estimates computed for the first upper molar seems to provide more stable parameters than those based on the whole molar row, because issues related to non-planar occlusal surface along the molar row are discarded. The truncated template was proven efficient in discarding the wear effect to focus on genetic differences, allowing an efficient characterization of the hybridization signature between wild and lab mice. Dominance of the wild phenotype for the first molar shape supports that the lab strain evolved in a context of relaxation of the selective pressures related to nutrition.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Morphological Signature Of Hybridizationsupporting

confidence: 68%

Wild versus lab house mice: Effects of age, diet, and genetics on molar geometry and topography

et al. 2021

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“…Such an evolutionary context is known to promote fast and pronounced morphological evolution (e.g. [Chevret et al., 2021]). Consistently, compared to wild relatives, the Swiss strain is characterized by important differences in other characters such as body size, and molar morphology (Savriama et al., 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inner ear morphology in wild versus laboratory house mice

Renaud,

Amar,

Chevret

et al. 2024

Journal of Anatomy

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The semicircular canals of the inner ear are involved in balance and velocity control. Being crucial to ensure efficient mobility, their morphology exhibits an evolutionary conservatism attributed to stabilizing selection. Release of selection in slow‐moving animals has been argued to lead to morphological divergence and increased inter‐individual variation. In its natural habitat, the house mouse Mus musculus moves in a tridimensional space where efficient balance is required. In contrast, laboratory mice in standard cages are severely restricted in their ability to move, which possibly reduces selection on the inner ear morphology. This effect was tested by comparing four groups of mice: several populations of wild mice trapped in commensal habitats in France; their second‐generation laboratory offspring, to assess plastic effects related to breeding conditions; a standard laboratory strain (Swiss) that evolved for many generations in a regime of mobility reduction; and hybrids between wild offspring and Swiss mice. The morphology of the semicircular canals was quantified using a set of 3D landmarks and semi‐landmarks analyzed using geometric morphometric protocols. Levels of inter‐population, inter‐individual (disparity) and intra‐individual (asymmetry) variation were compared. All wild mice shared a similar inner ear morphology, in contrast to the important divergence of the Swiss strain. The release of selection in the laboratory strain obviously allowed for an important and rapid drift in the otherwise conserved structure. Shared traits between the inner ear of the lab strain and domestic pigs suggested a common response to mobility reduction in captivity. The lab‐bred offspring of wild mice also differed from their wild relatives, suggesting plastic response related to maternal locomotory behavior, since inner ear morphology matures before birth in mammals. The signature observed in lab‐bred wild mice and the lab strain was however not congruent, suggesting that plasticity did not participate to the divergence of the laboratory strain. However, contrary to the expectation, wild mice displayed slightly higher levels of inter‐individual variation than laboratory mice, possibly due to the higher levels of genetic variance within and among wild populations compared to the lab strain. Differences in fluctuating asymmetry levels were detected, with the laboratory strain occasionally displaying higher asymmetry scores than its wild relatives. This suggests that there may indeed be a release of selection and/or a decrease in developmental stability in the laboratory strain.

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“…[16][17][18][19][20] or black rats Rattus rattus [21][22][23], micromammals are an under-researched subject in archaeology. On Orkney the history and population dynamics of microfauna beyond voles is vaguely known, with the majority of knowledge coming from nineteenth-and twentieth-century observations [1] and evolutionary research on modern populations [24][25][26]. Due to issues with handling such small material [27], and micromammal retrieval often a by-product of sampling for other small finds, micromammal archaeology rarely goes beyond simple species identification or non-archaeological investigation of a small part of the data that are potentially available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pests or prey? Micromammal species within an ancient anthropic environment at the Norse settlement site of Tuquoy (Westray, Orkney)

et al. 2023

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Micromammals, like rodents and shrews, adapt rapidly to take advantage of new food sources, habitats and ecological niches, frequently thriving in anthropogenic environments. Their remains, often retrieved during archaeological investigations, can be a valuable source of information about the past environmental conditions as well as interspecies interactions and human activity. However, the research on such finds rarely covers multiple approaches, often relying on single species or data type (e.g. identification/information for proxy studies). Here we investigate micromammal remains from the Norse and medieval (AD tenth–fourteenth centuries) archaeological site at Tuquoy, Orkney, to elucidate the relationships between micromammals, humans and other species present using a variety of data. Four micromammal species were identified, and their species dynamics as well as relationships with humans could be inferred by tracking changes in spatial and temporal location of remains, from their taphonomic history and by age estimation for individual animals. A larger, predatory assemblage was also identified, with species composition differing from that in the rest of the archaeological assemblage, and possibly therefore representing small mammal species composition in the wild. The assemblage was probably deposited by a diurnal raptor, though identification to species is not certain due to post-depositional processes.

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Genetic structure in Orkney island mice: isolation promotes morphological diversification

Cited by 7 publications

References 52 publications

Wild versus lab house mice: Effects of age, diet, and genetics on molar geometry and topography

Wild versus lab house mice: Effects of age, diet, and genetics on molar geometry and topography

Inner ear morphology in wild versus laboratory house mice

Pests or prey? Micromammal species within an ancient anthropic environment at the Norse settlement site of Tuquoy (Westray, Orkney)

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