Genetic and Morphological Divergence Among Sympatric Canids

Authors

• Robert K. Wayne, University of California - Los Angeles
• B. Van Valkenburgh, University of California Los Angeles
• P. W. Kat, National Museums of Kenya
• T. K. Fuller, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
• W. E. Johnson, Iowa State University
• Stephen J. O'Brien, National Cancer Institute at FrederickFollow

ORCID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Heredity

ISSN

0022-1503

Publication Date

9-1989

Abstract

Numerous studies have suggested that the extent of character divergence observed between two sympatric species reflects the intensity of competition for resources or space. However, the influence of time on divergence is often overlooked. We examined the relationship between time and character divergence in two groups of congeneric, sympatric canids on two continents: South American foxes and African jackals. Character divergence was assessed from measurements of body mass and dental and cranial shape. Divergence time was estimated from data on mitochondrial DNA restriction site polymorphisms. Our findings indicate that African jackals are morphologically similar despite having diverged more than 2 million years ago. By contrast, South American foxes differ substantially in both size and morphology after only 250,000 years of evolution. Thus, the lack of character divergence among the African Jackals cannot be explained as a result of very recent common ancestry.

Volume

80

Issue

6

First Page

447

Last Page

454

Comments

©1990 The American Genetic Association

NSUWorks Citation

Wayne, Robert K.; B. Van Valkenburgh; P. W. Kat; T. K. Fuller; W. E. Johnson; and Stephen J. O'Brien. 1989. "Genetic and Morphological Divergence Among Sympatric Canids." Journal of Heredity 80, (6): 447-454. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/146