The changing pace of insular life: 5000 years of microevolution in the orkney vole (microtus arvalis orcadensis)

• Published in: Evolution
• Main Authors: Cucchi, Thomas, Barnett, Ross, Martinkova, Natalia, Renaud, Sabrina, Renvoise, Elodie, Evin, Allowen, Sheridan, Alison, Mainland, Ingrid, Wickham-Jones, Caroline, Tougard, Christelle, Quere, Jean-Pierre, Pascal, Michel, Pascal, Marine, Heckel, Gerald, O'Higgins, Paul, Searle, Jeremy B., Dobney, Keith. M.
• Other Authors: Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Durham Evolution and Ancient DNA, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IVB / CAS), Czech Academy of Sciences Prague (CAS), Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses Brno (IBA MED / MUNI), Faculty of Medicine Brno (MED / MUNI), Masaryk University Brno (MUNI)-Masaryk University Brno (MUNI), Ecologie et évolution des populations LBBE, Département écologie évolutive LBBE, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558 (LBBE), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive - UMR 5558 (LBBE), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Biotechnology, Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, National Museums Scotland (NMS), University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations (UMR CBGP), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Écologie et santé des écosystèmes (ESE), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Computational and Molecular Population Genetics (CMPG), Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Universität Bern / University of Bern (UNIBE), Genopode, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Lausanne (SIB), Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne (UNIL)-Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne (UNIL), Centre for Anatomical and Human Sciences. Hull York Medical School, University of York York, UK, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University New York
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: evolutionary rate; Dispersal; geometric morphometrics; zooarchaeology; island evolution; tooth shape; [SDV.SA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences; [SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01210226; https://hal.science/hal-01210226/document; https://hal.science/hal-01210226/file/Publis014-cbgp-045_Cucchi_Evolution_Changint%20pace%20insular%20live%20Microtus%20arvalis%20orcadensis_1.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.12476

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 translocation around the archipelago. However, against our initial expectations, a second marked phenotypic shift occurred between the 4th and 12th centuries AD, associated with increased pastoral farming and introduction of competitors (mice and rats) and terrestrial predators (foxes and cats). These results indicate that human agency can generate a more complex pattern of morphological evolution than might be expected in island rodents.