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The Journal of Heredity 1989:80(6):447-454
© 1989 The American Genetic Association 80:447-454

research-article

Genetic and Morphological Divergence among Sympatric Canids

R. K. Wayne1, B. Van Valkenburgh1, P. W. Kat2, T. K. Fuller3, W. E. Johnson4, and S. J. O'Brien5

1From the Department of Biology UCLA, Los Aongeles, California
2National Museums of Kenya Nairobi
3Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Grand Rapids
4Department of Animal Ecology, lowa State University Ames
5Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute Frederick, Maryland

Address reprint requests to Dr. Wayne, Department of Biology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1606.

Abstract

Numerous studies have suggested that the extent of character divergence observed between two sympatric species reflects the intensity of competition for resources or space. However, the influence of time on divergence is often overlooked. We examined the relationship between time and character divergence in two groups of congeneric, sympatric canids on two continents: South American foxes and African jackals. Character divergence was assessed from measurements of body mass and dental and cranial shape. Divergence time was estimated from data on mitochondrial DNA restriction site polymorphisms. Our findings indicate that African jackals are morphologically similar despite having diverged more than 2 million years ago. By contrast, South American foxes differ substantially in both size and morphology after only 250,000 years of evolution. Thus, the lack of character divergence among the African Jackals cannot be explained as a result of very recent common ancestry.


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