Allozyme variability and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in skull morphology were used to test the hypothesis of inbreeding in an isolated springbok Antidorcas marsupialis fZimmermann, 1780) population from the Chelmsford Nature Reserve, South Africa. Of 39 loci studied in a sample of 30 animals, five displayed allelic polymorphism. Average heterozygosity of 1.8% was not appreciably lower than a value of 2% calculated for 49 animals from a control group from Beniontein Game Farm in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Proportion of polymorphic loci and average number of alleles per locus were identical in both populations (10.3% and 1.1). Morphological analysis contradicted the prediction of increased fluctuating asymmetry due to the likelihood of inbreeding in a small, isolated population, with FA almost always higher in the control compared to Chelmsford. Chelmsford animals were however smaller than control animals for seven out of 9 cranial and horn variables analysed (significantly so in four cases), hich could conceivably be explained by environmental influences. It is concluded that loss of genetic diversity is not a problem in the Chelmsford springbok population, although this does not negate the possibility that physical deformities occurring in the population may indeed be genetically induced.
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