The demise of the Devil may be influencing the evolution of a Tasmanian quoll

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-01-09 13:00

Australia; International; QLD; TAS

Michael J Fromholtz via Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-4.0

As some Tasmanian devil populations decline due to the spread of facial tumour disease, spotted-tailed quolls in those areas are being influenced genetically by their absence, according to Australian research. Spotted-tailed quolls are less dominant predators in Tasmania and their behaviour has changed as devil populations decline, so the researchers collected genome data from 345 quolls over the course of 15 generations to see if their genes were changing too. The researchers say in areas where facial tumour disease was impacting the devil population, there was evidence of less movement of genes between quoll populations, increased population structure and changes in genes specifically related to muscle development, movement and feeding behaviour. The researchers say it's likely these traits are related to competition between devils and quolls, and the absence of competition could be changing the way the quolls are evolving.

Media release

From: Springer Nature

Genetics: Tasmanian devil die-off is affecting a fellow predator’s genetics

Population declines in the Tasmanian devil (a top predator species), caused by a transmissible cancer, may be affecting the evolutionary genetics of a subordinate predator species, the spotted-tailed quoll, research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution reports.

Top predator declines are occurring globally and have cascading ecological effects, one of which is to reduce competition and enable increased activity of subordinate mid-range predators in an ecosystem, known as mesopredators. The Tasmanian devil population is declining owing to the transmissible devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), a rare example of an infectious cancer. This has changed the resource use and activity patterns of the spotted-tailed quoll (a mesopredator), but it is not known whether evolutionary processes are also affected in the quolls.

Andrew Storfer and colleagues collected genome marker data from 345 quolls over the course of 15 generations, and looked for evidence of genetic variation and natural selection associated with differences in DFTD prevalence and geographical location. They found that quolls in areas with similar prevalence of DFTD were genetically more similar than those located in areas with different DFTD prevalence and Tasmanian devil population densities, which may indicate selective dispersal and/or selection against individuals from different environments.

The researchers also found evidence for decreased gene flow and increased population structure in quolls overall, likely resulting from reduced competition. Finally, they showed evidence of selection acting on genes for muscle development, locomotion and feeding behaviour that was linked to differences in DFTD prevalence and devil population densities. They suggest that these traits may be involved in competition between quolls and devils and therefore selected differently when devil numbers decline.

The authors conclude their “community landscape genomics” approach may be used in general to enable greater understanding of the evolutionary consequences of global predator declines.

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Journal/
conference: Nature Ecology & Evolution

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Tasmania, Griffith University, Washington State University, USA

Funder: Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology through grant NSF DEB 2027446 (A.S., M.J.M., H.M., M.E.J.), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under the National Institutes of Health under the US Department of Health and Human Services through grant R01-GM126563-01 (A.S., P.A.H., H.M. and M.E.J.), and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Award 1842493 (M.A.B.). Sample collection was additionally funded by the Australian Research Council through Discovery and Linkage Program grants LP130100949 (M.E.J.), DP110103069 (M.E.J., H.M.), DP110102656 (M.E.J., H.M.), LP0989613 (M.E.J.) and LP0561120 (M.E.J., H.M.), and a Future Fellowship (FT100100031) to M.E.J.

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