Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Archie, EA; Maldonado, JE; Hollister-Smith, JA; Poole, JH; Moss, CJ; Fleischer, RC; Alberts, SC
Published in: Molecular ecology
June 2008

Nonrandom patterns of mating and dispersal create fine-scale genetic structure in natural populations - especially of social mammals - with important evolutionary and conservation genetic consequences. Such structure is well-characterized for typical mammalian societies; that is, societies where social group composition is stable, dispersal is male-biased, and males form permanent breeding associations in just one or a few social groups over the course of their lives. However, genetic structure is not well understood for social mammals that differ from this pattern, including elephants. In elephant societies, social groups fission and fuse, and males never form permanent breeding associations with female groups. Here, we combine 33 years of behavioural observations with genetic information for 545 African elephants (Loxodonta africana), to investigate how mating and dispersal behaviours structure genetic variation between social groups and across age classes. We found that, like most social mammals, female matrilocality in elephants creates co-ancestry within core social groups and significant genetic differentiation between groups (Phi(ST) = 0.058). However, unlike typical social mammals, male elephants do not bias reproduction towards a limited subset of social groups, and instead breed randomly across the population. As a result, reproductively dominant males mediate gene flow between core groups, which creates cohorts of similar-aged paternal relatives across the population. Because poaching tends to eliminate the oldest elephants from populations, illegal hunting and poaching are likely to erode fine-scale genetic structure. We discuss our results and their evolutionary and conservation genetic implications in the context of other social mammals.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Molecular ecology

DOI

EISSN

1365-294X

ISSN

0962-1083

Publication Date

June 2008

Volume

17

Issue

11

Start / End Page

2666 / 2679

Related Subject Headings

  • Sexual Behavior, Animal
  • Microsatellite Repeats
  • Male
  • Kenya
  • Genotype
  • Genetics, Population
  • Genetic Variation
  • Female
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Elephants
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Archie, E. A., Maldonado, J. E., Hollister-Smith, J. A., Poole, J. H., Moss, C. J., Fleischer, R. C., & Alberts, S. C. (2008). Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society. Molecular Ecology, 17(11), 2666–2679. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03797.x
Archie, Elizabeth A., Jésus E. Maldonado, Julie A. Hollister-Smith, Joyce H. Poole, Cynthia J. Moss, Robert C. Fleischer, and Susan C. Alberts. “Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society.Molecular Ecology 17, no. 11 (June 2008): 2666–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03797.x.
Archie EA, Maldonado JE, Hollister-Smith JA, Poole JH, Moss CJ, Fleischer RC, et al. Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society. Molecular ecology. 2008 Jun;17(11):2666–79.
Archie, Elizabeth A., et al. “Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society.Molecular Ecology, vol. 17, no. 11, June 2008, pp. 2666–79. Epmc, doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03797.x.
Archie EA, Maldonado JE, Hollister-Smith JA, Poole JH, Moss CJ, Fleischer RC, Alberts SC. Fine-scale population genetic structure in a fission-fusion society. Molecular ecology. 2008 Jun;17(11):2666–2679.
Journal cover image

Published In

Molecular ecology

DOI

EISSN

1365-294X

ISSN

0962-1083

Publication Date

June 2008

Volume

17

Issue

11

Start / End Page

2666 / 2679

Related Subject Headings

  • Sexual Behavior, Animal
  • Microsatellite Repeats
  • Male
  • Kenya
  • Genotype
  • Genetics, Population
  • Genetic Variation
  • Female
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Elephants