Zoology 445
Fall 2006
19 or 20 October
Conservation Genetics in the Cheetah
Discussion questions
Readings:
1. O'Brien et al. 1987 East African cheetahs: Evidence for two population bottlenecks? P.N.A.S.
84:508-511.
2. O'Brien et al. 1985. Genetic basis for species vulnerability in the cheetah. Science 227:14281434.
Questions:
1. What are population bottlenecks? What evolutionary factor(s) (i.e., natural selection, genetic
drift, mutation, migration or inbreeding) is important during a bottleneck?
2. What evidence suggests that there were two population bottlenecks in the cheetah? Do the
data offer strong support for this hypothesis?
3. What is inbreeding depression? (see p 242-245 of text)
4. What data indicate that the cheetah is currently subject to severe inbreeding depression?
5. What does Fig 1 of O’Brien et al. (1987) tell us about genetic variability in the cheetah? What
are measuring with polymorphic loci and heterozygosity? Why use two measures; would one
measure be adequate?
6. What is the significance of the skin graft experiment (Table 3 of O’Brien et al. 1985) have
with regard to the level of genetic variability in cheetahs? Put another way, would you expect
skin grafts between unrelated humans to be accepted? Why or why not? Note: The skin graft photo
did not reproduce well. The electronic version of the photo posted on the course web page shows more detail.
7. Given the evolutionary vulnerability in the cheetah, what measures could be instituted to
increase genetic variability within the species?
\Evolution Zol 445\2006\ Week 8 Conservation genetics questions.doc
AM Jarosz
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