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Data from: Scale-specific sex-biased dispersal in the Valais shrew unveiled by genetic variation on the Y chromosome, autosomes, and mitochondrial DNA

Cite this dataset

Yannic, Glenn et al. (2011). Data from: Scale-specific sex-biased dispersal in the Valais shrew unveiled by genetic variation on the Y chromosome, autosomes, and mitochondrial DNA [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8k3423ts

Abstract

We investigated sex-specificities in the evolutionary processes shaping Y chromosome, autosomes and mitochondrial DNA patterns of genetic structure in the Valais shrew (Sorex antinorii), a mountain dwelling species with a hierarchical distribution. Both hierarchical analyses of variance and isolation-by-distance analyses revealed patterns of population structure that were not consistent across maternal, paternal and bi-parentally inherited markers. Differentiation on a Y microsatellite was lower than expected from the comparison with autosomal microsatellites and mtDNA, and it was mostly due to genetic variance among populations within valleys, while the opposite was observed on other markers. In addition, there was no pattern of isolation-by-distance for the Y, while there was strong isolation-by-distance on mtDNA and autosomes. We use a hierarchical island model of coancestry dynamics to discuss the relative roles of the micro-evolutionary forces that may induce such patterns. We conclude that sex-biased dispersal is the most important driver of the observed genetic structure, but with an intriguing twist: it seems that dispersal is strongly male-biased at large spatial scale, while it is mildly biased in favour of females at local scale. These results add to recent reports of scale-specific sex-biased dispersal patterns, and emphasize the usefulness of the Y chromosome in conjunction with mtDNA and autosomes to infer sex-specificities.

Usage notes

Location

European Alps