Comparison of genetic variation between rare and common congeners of Dipodomys with estimates of contemporary and historical effective population size.

ABSTRACT: Species with low effective population sizes are at greater risk of extinction because of reduced genetic diversity. Such species are more vulnerable to chance events that decrease population sizes (e.g. demographic stochasticity). Dipodomys elator, (Texas kangaroo rat) is a kangaroo rat that is classified as threatened in Texas and field surveys from the past 50 years indicate that the distribution of this species has decreased. This suggests geographic range reductions that could have caused population fluctuations, potentially impacting effective population size. Conversely, the more common and widespread D. ordii (Ord's kangaroo rat) is thought to exhibit relative geographic and demographic stability. We assessed the genetic variation of D. elator and D. ordii samples using 3RAD, a modi

SUBMITTER: Halsey MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9469943 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature