Adaptation and adaptability in wild‐living House mice (Mus musculus)

摘要: House mice (Mus musculus L.) have successfully colonized a wide variety of habitats throughout the world. In part this is due to their ability adapt genetically new situations; in physiological flexibility. The most important individual adaptability response low temperatures. Cold tolerance seems be largely metabolic mice, and can detected by an increase oxygen carrying capacity blood mobilize body reserves, some extent indicated amount brown fat. addition, relative surface area body, heat radiating tissue (especially tail length) are important. paper presents data from both feral commensal populations range which likely stressful animals. Most these (from Macquarie Island Australian sub-Antarctic, islands Faroe, Shetland Orkney groups, Skokholm off Welsh coast, localities on British mainland) based single samples, but we also included one closed population (the Isle May) where sampled same number different occasions year. All haematocrit values except (a mid-winter value fall within inbred mouse strains, although haemoglobin concentrations were mostly higher than those laboratory mice. However haematological strains kept constant environment shows fallacy using absolute as measures adaptability. This turn highlights importance phenotypic traits indicate environmental pressures–both genetical. We obtained greater accuracy allocation individuals into age, genetical, or survivorship groups when multiple discriminant analysis, only considering characters.