Selection for increased body length in Subantarctic fur seals on Amsterdam Island

• Published in: Journal of Evolutionary Biology
• Main Authors: Authier, M., Cam, Emmanuelle, Guinet, C.
• Other Authors: École Doctorale Sciences pour l'Environnement Gay Lussac, PRES Limousin Poitou-Charentes, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Evolution et Diversité Biologique (EDB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Southern Ocean; Amsterdam Island
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00547696; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02193.x

International audience The traditional distinction between ecological and evolutionary times is eroding, calling for tighter links between ecology and evolution. An example of such a brigde between the two disciplines is the so-called 'animal model', a methodology initially developed by animal breeders, which has become very popular among ecologists studying contemporary microevolution. Using a Bayesian multi-trait 'animal model', we investigated the quantitative genetics of body size, a fitness-related trait, in Subantarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus tropicalis) breeding on Amsterdam Island, Southern Ocean. Our approach jointly modelled the growth and selection processes at work in this population. Body length is heritable for both sexes, and females are under selection for increased body length in this population. We strongly suspect the peculiar ecological context of impoverished, suitable prey availability exacerbated by density-dependence phenomena to be an important selective agent on females breeding on Amsterdam Island.