Selection of both habitat and genes in specialized and endangered caribou.

Genetic mechanisms determining habitat selection and specialization of individuals within species have been hypothesized, but not tested at the appropriate individual level in nature. In this work, we analyzed habitat selection for 139 GPS-collared caribou belonging to three declining ecotypes sampled throughout Northwestern Canada. We used Resource Selection Functions (RSFs) comparing resources at used and available locations.

Genomic legacy of migration in endangered caribou.

Wide-ranging animals, including migratory species, are significantly threatened by the effects of habitat fragmentation and habitat loss. In the case of terrestrial mammals, this results in nearly a quarter of species being at risk of extinction. Caribou are one such example of a wide-ranging, migratory, terrestrial, and endangered mammal.

A Genome-Wide Perspective on the Persistence of Red Wolf Ancestry in Southeastern Canids.

The red wolf (Canis rufus), a legally recognized and critically endangered wolf, is known to interbreed with coyotes (Canis latrans). Declared extirpated in the wild in 1980, red wolves were reintroduced to northeastern North Carolina nearly a decade later. Interbreeding with coyotes was thought to be restricted to a narrow geographic region adjacent to the reintroduced population and largely believed to threaten red wolf recovery.

Heritability of interpack aggression in a wild pedigreed population of North American grey wolves.

Aggression is a quantitative trait deeply entwined with individual fitness. Mapping the genomic architecture underlying such traits is complicated by complex inheritance patterns, social structure, pedigree information and gene pleiotropy. Here, we leveraged the pedigree of a reintroduced population of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, to examine the heritability of and the genetic variation associated with aggression.

Geographic patterns in morphometric and genetic variation for coyote populations with emphasis on southeastern coyotes.

Prior to 1900, coyotes () were restricted to the western and central regions of North America, but by the early 2000s, coyotes became ubiquitous throughout the eastern United States. Information regarding morphological and genetic structure of coyote populations in the southeastern United States is limited, and where data exist, they are rarely compared to those from other regions of North America. We assessed geographic patterns in morphology and genetics of coyotes with special consideration of coyotes in the southeastern United States.

Urban colonization through multiple genetic lenses: The city-fox phenomenon revisited.

Urbanization is driving environmental change on a global scale, creating novel environments for wildlife to colonize. Through a combination of stochastic and selective processes, urbanization is also driving evolutionary change. For instance, difficulty in traversing human-modified landscapes may isolate newly established populations from rural sources, while novel selective pressures, such as altered disease risk, toxicant exposure, and light pollution, may further diverge populations through local adaptation.

Genomics, environment and balancing selection in behaviourally bimodal populations: The caribou case.

Selection forces that favour different phenotypes in different environments can change frequencies of genes between populations along environmental clines. Clines are also compatible with balancing forces, such as negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS), which maintains phenotypic polymorphisms within populations. For example, NFDS is hypothesized to maintain partial migration, a dimorphic behavioural trait prominent in species where only a fraction of the population seasonally migrates.

High genomic diversity and candidate genes under selection associated with range expansion in eastern coyote () populations.

Range expansion is a widespread biological process, with well-described theoretical expectations associated with the colonization of novel ranges. However, comparatively few empirical studies address the genomic outcomes accompanying the genome-wide consequences associated with the range expansion process, particularly in recent or ongoing expansions. Here, we assess two recent and distinct eastward expansion fronts of a highly mobile carnivore, the coyote (), to investigate patterns of genomic diversity and identify variants that may have been under selection during range expansion.

Rediscovery of Red Wolf Ghost Alleles in a Canid Population Along the American Gulf Coast.

Rediscovering species once thought to be extinct or on the edge of extinction is rare. Red wolves have been extinct along the American Gulf Coast since 1980, with their last populations found in coastal Louisiana and Texas. We report the rediscovery of red wolf ghost alleles in a canid population on Galveston Island, Texas.

Population Genomic Analysis of North American Eastern Wolves (Canis lycaon) Supports Their Conservation Priority Status.

The threatened eastern wolf is found predominantly in protected areas of central Ontario and has an evolutionary history obscured by interbreeding with coyotes and gray wolves, which challenges its conservation status and subsequent management. Here, we used a population genomics approach to uncover spatial patterns of variation in 281 canids in central Ontario and the Great Lakes region. This represents the first genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset with substantial sample sizes of representative populations.

Demographic history influences spatial patterns of genetic diversityin recently expanded coyote (Canis latrans) populations.

Human-mediated range expansions have increased in recent decades and represent unique opportunities to evaluate genetic outcomes of establishing peripheral populations across broad expansion fronts. Over the past century, coyotes (Canis latrans) have undergone a pervasive range expansion and now inhabit every state in the continental United States. Coyote expansion into eastern North America was facilitated by anthropogenic landscape changes and followed two broad expansion fronts.

Ancestry-Specific Methylation Patterns in Admixed Offspring from an Experimental Coyote and Gray Wolf Cross.

Reduced fitness of admixed individuals is typically attributed to genetic incompatibilities. Although mismatched genomes can lead to fitness changes, in some cases the reduction in hybrid fitness is subtle. The potential role of transcriptional regulation in admixed genomes could provide a mechanistic explanation for these discrepancies, but evidence is lacking for nonmodel organisms.