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dc.contributor.authorJanssen, Kirstin
dc.contributor.authorMundy, Nicholas I.
dc.date.accessioned2018-03-20T15:06:43Z
dc.date.available2018-03-20T15:06:43Z
dc.date.issued2017-12-06
dc.description.abstractA key outstanding issue in adaptive evolution is the relationship between the genetics of intraspecific polymorphism and interspecific evolution. Here, we show that the pale/dark ventral plumage polymorphism that occurs in both the pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus) and Arctic skua (S. parasiticus) is the result of convergent evolution at the same locus (MC1R), involving some of the same amino acid sites. The dark melanic MC1R allele in the pomarine skua is strongly divergent from the pale MC1R alleles. Whereas the dark allele is closely related to MC1R alleles in three species of great skua (S. skua, S. maccormicki, S. lonnbergi), the pale pomarine skua MC1R alleles present a star-like pattern in an intermediate position on the haplotype network, closer to alleles of the long-tailed skua (S. longicaudus). Variation at other nuclear loci confirms a close relationship between the pomarine skua and the great skuas. The plumage polymorphism in pomarine skuas might have arisen in the common ancestor of pomarine and great skuas, only being retained in pomarine skuas. Alternatively, the pale and melanic MC1R alleles may have evolved independently in different lineages and been brought together in pomarine skuas by hybridization. In this case, introgression of a pale MC1R allele into the pomarine skua from another skua lineage is most likely. Our current data do not permit us to distinguish between these hypotheses, and assaying genome-wide variation holds much promise in this regard. Nevertheless, we have uncovered an intriguing example of a functionally important allele within one species that is shared across species.en_US
dc.descriptionPublished version availble in <a href=http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1735> Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences, 2017, 284(1868). </a>en_US
dc.identifier.citationJanssen, K., Mundy, N. I. (2017). The genetic basis and enigmatic origin of melanic polymorphism in the pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. 284(1868)en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1530783
dc.identifier.doi10.1098/rspb.2017.1735
dc.identifier.issn0962-8452
dc.identifier.issn1471-2954
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/12390
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherThe Royal Society Publishingen_US
dc.relation.journalProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.subjectpolymorphismen_US
dc.subjectplumage colouren_US
dc.subjectmelanismen_US
dc.subjectskuaen_US
dc.subjectjaegeren_US
dc.subjectMC1Ren_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480en_US
dc.titleThe genetic basis and enigmatic origin of melanic polymorphism in the pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus)en_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US


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