A longitudinal study of phenotypic changes in early domestication of house mice. Issue 3 (7th March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Geiger, Madeleine; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R.; Lindholm, Anna K.
• Is Part Of: Royal Society open science. Volume 5:Issue 3(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-03-07
• Subjects: commensalism -- tameness -- pigmentation -- domestication syndrome -- human -- evolutionary rate; Science -- Periodicals; 500
• DOI: 10.1098/rsos.172099
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2054-5703

Abstract

Abstract : Similar phenotypic changes occur across many species as a result of domestication, e.g. in pigmentation and snout size. Experimental studies of domestication have concentrated on intense and directed selection regimes, while conditions that approximate the commensal and indirect interactions with humans have not been explored. We examine long-term data on a free-living population of wild house mice that have been indirectly selected for tameness by regular exposure to humans. In the course of a decade, this mouse population exhibited significantly increased occurrence of white patches of fur and decreased head length. These phenotypic changes fit to the predictions of the 'domestication syndrome'.