Data from: Commensalism facilitates gene flow in mountains: a comparison between two Rattus species ...

• Main Authors: Varudkar, Amruta, Ramakrishnan, Uma
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2015
• Subjects: migration rate; jump dispersal; mountain range; non-commensal; Rattus satarae; synanthropes; isolation by distance; mitochondrial control region; Rattus rattus; commensal rodents
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8265h; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.8265h

Small mammal dispersal is strongly affected by geographical barriers. However, commensal small mammals may be passively transported over large distances and strong barriers by humans (often with agricultural products). This pattern should be especially apparent in topographically complex landscapes, such as mountain ranges, where valleys and/or peaks can limit dispersal of less vagile species. We predict that commensal species would have lower genetic differentiation and higher migration rates than related non-commensals in such landscapes. We contrasted population genetic differentiation in two sympatric Rattus species (R. satarae and R. rattus) in the Western Ghats mountains in southern India. We sampled rats from villages and adjacent forests in seven locations (20–640 km apart). Capture-based statistics confirmed that R. rattus is abundant in human settlements in this region, whereas R. satarae is non-commensal and found mostly in forests. Population structure analyses using ~970-bp mitochondrial control ... : Microsatellite genotypesThis file contains raw genotypes for 17 microsatellite loci for two species of Rattus- R. rattus and R. satarae sampled in seven locations in Western Ghats.dryad.xlsx ...