The changing pace of insular life: 5000 years of microevolution in the Orkney vole (Microtus arvalis orcadensis) ...

• Main Authors: Pascal, Michel, Renvoisé, Elodie, Sheridan, Alison, Mainland, Ingrid, O'Higgins, Paul, Renaud, Sabrina, Heckel, Gerald, Evin, Allowen, Barnett, Ross, Martínková, Natália, Wickham-Jones, Caroline, Dobney, Keith M., Quéré, Jean-Pierre, Tougard, Christelle, Cucchi, Thomas, Pascal, Marine, Searle, Jeremy B.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2014
• Subjects: 570 Life sciences; biology; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.71384; http://boris.unibe.ch/71384/

Island evolution may be expected to involve fast initial morphological divergence followed by stasis. We tested this model using the dental phenotype of modern and ancient common voles (Microtus arvalis), introduced onto the Orkney archipelago (Scotland) from continental Europe some 5000 years ago. First, we investigated phenotypic divergence of Orkney and continental European populations and assessed climatic influences. Second, phenotypic differentiation among Orkney populations was tested against geography, time, and neutral genetic patterns. Finally, we examined evolutionary change along a time series for the Orkney Mainland. Molar gigantism and anterior-lobe hypertrophy evolved rapidly in Orkney voles following introduction, without any transitional forms detected. Founder events and adaptation appear to explain this initial rapid evolution. Idiosyncrasy in dental features among different island populations of Orkney voles is also likely the result of local founder events following Neolithic ...