Lance S L, Tuberville T D, Dueck L, Holz-Schietinger C, Trosclair P L, Elsey R M, Glenn T C
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA.
Mol Ecol. 2009 Nov;18(21):4508-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04373.x. Epub 2009 Oct 5.
We examined multiple paternity during eight breeding events within a 10-year period (1995-2005) for a total of 114 wild American alligator nests in Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in south-west Louisiana. Our goals included examining (i) within population variation in multiple paternity among years, (ii) variation in multiple paternity in individual females and (iii) the potential for mate fidelity. To accomplish this, in the current study, eggs were sampled from 92 nests over 6 years and analysed along with 22 nests from a previous 2-year study. Genotypes at five microsatellite loci were generated for 1802 alligator hatchlings. Multiple paternity was found in 51% of clutches and paternal contributions to these clutches were highly skewed. Rates of multiple paternity varied widely among years and were consistently higher in the current study than previously reported for the same population. Larger females have larger clutches, but are not more likely to have multiply sired nests. However, small females are unlikely to have clutches with more than two sires. For 10 females, nests from multiple years were examined. Seven (70%) of these females exhibited long-term mate fidelity, with one female mating with the same male in 1997, 2002 and 2005. Five females exhibiting partial mate fidelity (71%) had at least one multiple paternity nest and thus mated with the same male, but not exclusively. These patterns of mate fidelity suggest a potential role for mate choice in alligators.
在10年期间（1995 - 2005年）的8次繁殖活动中，我们对路易斯安那州西南部洛克菲勒野生动物保护区的114个野生美国短吻鳄巢穴进行了多父权检测。我们的目标包括研究：（i）多年间种群内多父权的变化；（ii）个体雌性多父权的变化；（iii）配偶忠诚度的可能性。为实现这一目标，在本研究中，我们在6年时间里从92个巢穴采集了卵，并结合之前一项为期2年研究中的22个巢穴进行分析。对1802只短吻鳄幼崽的5个微卫星位点进行了基因分型。在51%的窝中发现了多父权现象，并且这些窝中父系的贡献高度不均衡。多父权率在不同年份差异很大，并且在本研究中始终高于此前对同一群体的报道。体型较大的雌性产的窝更大，但并不更有可能有多父权的窝。然而，体型较小的雌性不太可能有超过两个父系的窝。对于10只雌性，我们检查了它们多年来的巢穴。其中7只（70%）雌性表现出长期配偶忠诚度，有一只雌性在1997年、2002年和2005年都与同一只雄性交配。5只表现出部分配偶忠诚度（71%）的雌性至少有一个多父权巢穴，因此它们与同一只雄性交配，但并非完全排他。这些配偶忠诚度模式表明配偶选择在短吻鳄中可能发挥作用。
