We examined temporal variation in developmental stability measured by fluctuating asymmetry of 10 skull characters in sympatric populations of three shrew species: Sorex araneus Linnaeus, 1758, S. caecutiens Laxmann, 1788 and S. tundrensis Merriam, 1900 from one locality in central Siberia with a high four-year-cycle of small mammals. Simultaneous significant changes in developmental stability have been revealed during a population cycle 1986-1989 for all three, most abundant shrew species in the locality. The highest asymmetry for all these species occurred in the year of maximal density. Similar high asymmetry was found for the separate samples of two other species: S. roboratus Hollister, 1913 and S. isodon Turov, 1924, collected in a peak year 1989 only. The maximal density in 1989 corresponded to the lowest level of breeding success and developmental stability and, vice versa, minimal density in 1986 was accompanied by the highest level of breeding success and developmental stability. These data suggest that overpopulation caused by high density of various small mammals adversely affects an organism's condition. Thus, developmental stability may be used to monitor possible changes in a population even in cases where direct estimation of fitness is difficult.
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