Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction
Rapid morphological change has been shown in rodent populations on islands, including endemic deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus subspp.) on the California Channel Islands. Surprisingly, most of these changes were towards a smaller size. Black rats were introduced to Anacapa Island in the mid-1800s (...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e82ca29d40904549b3d4af950db3e151 2024-01-07T09:46:12+01:00 Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction Oliver R.W. Pergams David Byrn Kashawneda L.Y. Lee Racheal Jackson 2015-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.812 https://doaj.org/article/e82ca29d40904549b3d4af950db3e151 EN eng PeerJ Inc. https://peerj.com/articles/812.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/812/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.812 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/e82ca29d40904549b3d4af950db3e151 PeerJ, Vol 3, p e812 (2015) Anacapa island California Channel islands Rattus rattus Morphology Rapid evolution Microevolution Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.812 2023-12-10T01:51:21Z Rapid morphological change has been shown in rodent populations on islands, including endemic deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus subspp.) on the California Channel Islands. Surprisingly, most of these changes were towards a smaller size. Black rats were introduced to Anacapa Island in the mid-1800s (probably in 1853) and eradicated in 2001–2002. To assess possible changes in these rats since their introduction, eleven cranial and four standard external measurements were taken from 59 Rattus rattus specimens collected from 1940–2000. All rat cranial traits changed 3.06–10.43% (724–2567 d, 0.06–0.42 h), and all became larger. When considered in haldanes, these changes are among the fastest on record in any organism, and far exceed changes found in other island rodents. These changes were confirmed by MANOVA (Wilk’s λ < 0.0005, Fd.f.15 = 2974.386, P < 0.0005), and all 11 cranial traits significantly fit linear regressions. We speculate that concurrent changes in mice may have been due in part to competition with and/or predation by rats. Future research might evaluate whether the vector of mouse evolution on Anacapa is again changing after rat eradication. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PeerJ 3 e812 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Anacapa island California Channel islands Rattus rattus Morphology Rapid evolution Microevolution Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
Anacapa island California Channel islands Rattus rattus Morphology Rapid evolution Microevolution Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Oliver R.W. Pergams David Byrn Kashawneda L.Y. Lee Racheal Jackson Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
topic_facet |
Anacapa island California Channel islands Rattus rattus Morphology Rapid evolution Microevolution Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Rapid morphological change has been shown in rodent populations on islands, including endemic deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus subspp.) on the California Channel Islands. Surprisingly, most of these changes were towards a smaller size. Black rats were introduced to Anacapa Island in the mid-1800s (probably in 1853) and eradicated in 2001–2002. To assess possible changes in these rats since their introduction, eleven cranial and four standard external measurements were taken from 59 Rattus rattus specimens collected from 1940–2000. All rat cranial traits changed 3.06–10.43% (724–2567 d, 0.06–0.42 h), and all became larger. When considered in haldanes, these changes are among the fastest on record in any organism, and far exceed changes found in other island rodents. These changes were confirmed by MANOVA (Wilk’s λ < 0.0005, Fd.f.15 = 2974.386, P < 0.0005), and all 11 cranial traits significantly fit linear regressions. We speculate that concurrent changes in mice may have been due in part to competition with and/or predation by rats. Future research might evaluate whether the vector of mouse evolution on Anacapa is again changing after rat eradication. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oliver R.W. Pergams David Byrn Kashawneda L.Y. Lee Racheal Jackson |
author_facet |
Oliver R.W. Pergams David Byrn Kashawneda L.Y. Lee Racheal Jackson |
author_sort |
Oliver R.W. Pergams |
title |
Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
title_short |
Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
title_full |
Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
title_fullStr |
Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid morphological change in black rats (Rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
title_sort |
rapid morphological change in black rats (rattus rattus) after an island introduction |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.812 https://doaj.org/article/e82ca29d40904549b3d4af950db3e151 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
PeerJ, Vol 3, p e812 (2015) |
op_relation |
https://peerj.com/articles/812.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/812/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.812 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/e82ca29d40904549b3d4af950db3e151 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.812 |
container_title |
PeerJ |
container_volume |
3 |
container_start_page |
e812 |
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1787427925141749760 |