SREL Reprint #2120

Genetic variation in a subterranean mammal, Scalopus aquaticus (Insectivora: Talpidae)

Gregory D. Hartman

Department of Biology & Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA

Abstract: Allozyme variation was examined for 382 moles (Scalopus aquaticus) collected from 16 localities located within a 23 km2 area in South Carolina, U.S.A. Of 26 presumptive loci that were scored for all moles, 8 (30.8%) were observed to be polymorphic. Mean direct-count heterozygosity was 7.2%, c. 75% higher than the mean value reported for mammals. The findings of this study do not support the hypothesis that more purely subterranean species of mammals will exhibit levels of allozyme variation lower than those of above-ground species.

Keywords: allozyme variation; electrophoresis; mole

SREL Reprint #2120

Hartman, G.D. 1996. Genetic variation in a subterranean mammal, Scalopus aquaticus (Insectivora: Talpidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 59:115-125.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).