Abstract

TOMASCO, Ivanna H; SANCHEZ, Lucía; LESSA, Enrique P  and  LACEY, Eileen A. GENETIC ANALYSES SUGGEST BURROW SHARING BY RÍO NEGRO TUCO-TUCOS (Ctenomys rionegrensis)Análisis genéticos sugieren la existencia de madrigueras compartidas en los tucu-tucus de Río Negro (Ctenomys rionegrensis). Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2019, vol.26, n.2, pp.430-439.  Epub Dec 17, 2019. ISSN 0327-9383.

Genetic analyses of kinship can generate important insights into social structure, particularly for species for which direct observations of social relationships are challenging. We used molecular markers to characterize the kin structure of a population of the Río Negro tuco-tuco (Ctenomys rionegrensis), a subterranean species of rodent that is rarely observed above ground. Previous research has revealed that adults of this species engage in at least periodic episodes of burrow sharing, indicating that C. rionegrensis may not be strictly solitary. To explore the kin structure of this species, we used variability at 10 microsatellite loci to determine if (1) adults and juveniles captured at the same burrow entrance were parents and offspring and (2) kinship among adults captured together differed from that among randomly sampled pairs of individuals in our study population. Our analyses revealed that adults and juveniles captured together were not typically parents and offspring, suggesting potential mixing of litters among burrow systems. Relatedness among adults captured together did not differ from background levels of genetic similarity, providing no evidence that spatial proximity was associated with kin structure. Collectively, our findings support the hypothesis that C. rionegrensis is not strictly solitary but instead engages in burrow sharing by adults and associated litters of young.

Keywords : madrigueras compartidas; Ctenomys rionegrensis; Uruguay.