Faunal and cytotaxomic observations on Aeolian island rodents

The whole "Æolian system" has been investigated to link the presence of the various rodent species and races with human mouvements ever since earliest times. On the islands we recorded: the 2n=26 karyotype of Mus domesticus for Lipari, Vulcano and Ginostra on Stromboli; the "normal&qu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bollettino di zoologia 1983-01, Vol.50 (1-2), p.9-14
Main Authors: Amori, Giovanni, Cristaldi, Mauro, Federici, Roberto
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The whole "Æolian system" has been investigated to link the presence of the various rodent species and races with human mouvements ever since earliest times. On the islands we recorded: the 2n=26 karyotype of Mus domesticus for Lipari, Vulcano and Ginostra on Stromboli; the "normal" 2n=40 karyotype for Salina and Filicudi (1 spec); natural hybrids between these karyotypes for Alicudi, Panarea and Stromboli. Such distribution can be ascribed to shipping by man and to the excellent murine capacity of adapting to different environments in the Mediterranean climate. The difficulties encountered by Mus domesticus in establishing stable homozygous populations on several islands may be related to the restrictions imposed by the geographic layout of the territory on the population's mobility. The rapid spread of Rattus rattus, due to the ill-controlled accumulation of edible material and to the decrease of predators, may lead to a reduction in the mouse population, as seen for example on the island of Filicudi. A 2n=38 karyotype has been confirmed for the large Rattus rattus populations present on the islands. Moreover, considerable chromatic polymorphism has been found on almost all the islands, with the simultaneous presence of frugivorus, alexandrinus and rattus.
ISSN:0373-4137
DOI:10.1080/11250008309439411