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Small, Inbred, but Still Diverse
©Tammy Wolfe/iStockphoto.comIsolated wolf population retains genetic variation
Grenyer, R. et al. 2006. Global distribution and conservation of rare and threatened vertebrates. Nature 444(7115):93-96.
Isolated wolf population retains genetic variation S. Bensch et al. 2006. Selection for hetero-zygosity gives hope to a wild population of inbred wolves. PLoS ONE 1(1):e72.
The 150 wolves living in Scandinavia descended from just three individuals, which sounds like a recipe for inbreeding. But new research reveals that the wolves are, surprisingly, genetically diverse.
"Small isolated populations in the wild may not lose genetic variation as quickly as predicted," say Staffan Bensch of Lund University in Sweden and eight coauthors in PLoS ONE.
The researchers
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