Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 1, 2026
07:40
A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
21.5K
GENETIC SUBDIVISIONS AMONG SMALL CANIDS: MITOCHONDRIAL DNA DIFFERENTIATION OF SWIFT, KIT, AND ARCTIC FOXES
Alan Mercure1, Katherine Ralls1, Klaus P Koepfli1
1Department of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024.
Summary
Genetic divergence in sedentary kit and swift foxes is high, similar to small rodents. Despite hybridization, their distinct genetic profiles, separated by the Rocky Mountains, support recognition as separate species.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Population genetics
- Mammalogy
Background:
- Gene flow typically reduces genetic divergence in mobile species.
- Sedentary species may experience greater genetic differentiation.
- Kit and swift foxes (genus Vulpes) are small, relatively sedentary North American canids.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess genetic divergence among kit and swift fox populations.
- To evaluate the impact of distance and topographic barriers on genetic differentiation.
- To clarify the species status of kit and swift foxes.
Main Methods:
- Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction-site analysis.
- Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysis.
- Comparison of genetic variation components.
Main Results:
- High among-population genetic variation in kit and swift foxes, comparable to limited-dispersal rodents.
- Two distinct genetic clusters identified, geographically separated by the Rocky Mountains.
- Evidence of limited hybridization between kit and swift fox populations.
- Sequence divergence between kit and swift foxes similar to divergence with the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus).
Conclusions:
- Geographic barriers and limited dispersal significantly contribute to genetic differentiation in these canids.
- The genetic data support the classification of kit and swift foxes as distinct species.
- The findings present challenges for traditional species concept application.
Related Concept Videos
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
17.5K
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
17.5K
02:59Animal Mitochondrial Genetics
9.7K
Among all the organelles in an animal cell, only mitochondria have their own independent genomes. Animal mitochondrial DNA is a double-stranded, closed-circular molecule with around 20,000 base pairs. Mitochondrial DNA is unique in that one of its two strands, the heavy, or H, -strand is guanine rich, whereas the complementary strand is cytosine rich and called the light, or L, -strand. Compared to nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA has a very low percentage of non-coding regions and is marked by...
9.7K
02:54Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
7.1K
Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
7.1K
01:31Taxonomy
91.7K
Taxonomy is the science of defining and naming groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. It uses a hierarchy of increasingly inclusive categories with Latin names. The smallest units of taxonomy, species and genus, are used to assign a formal, taxonomic name to each species in a system. This classification system, referred to as binomial nomenclature, was formalized by Carolus Linnaeus in the 18th century.
Hierarchy of Taxonomy
The hierarchy that Carolus Linnaeus first...
Hierarchy of Taxonomy
The hierarchy that Carolus Linnaeus first...
91.7K
01:43Incomplete Dominance
30.8K
Gregor Mendel's work (1822 - 1884) was primarily focused on pea plants. Through his initial experiments, he determined that every gene in a diploid cell has two variants called alleles inherited from each parent. He suggested that amongst these two alleles, one allele is dominant in character and the other recessive. The combination of alleles determines the phenotype of a gene in an organism.
30.8K
01:29Modern Molecular Taxonomy
775
Advancements in molecular biology have revolutionized the identification and characterization of bacteria, with multiple methods leveraging DNA sequencing for enhanced precision. As sequencing technologies improve and costs decline, these approaches are increasingly used in clinical, environmental, and evolutionary studies.Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) examines several housekeeping genes, essential chromosomal genes encoding cellular functions, to distinguish strains. Approximately...
775