Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Multiple paternity in a reintroduced population of the Orinoco Crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) at the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela

Rossi Lafferriere, Natalia A., Antelo, Rafael, Alda, Fernando, Mårtensson, Dick, Hailer, Frank ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2340-1726, Castroviejo-Fisher, Santiago, Ayarzagüena, José, Ginsberg, Joshua R., Castroviejo, Javier, Doadrio, Ignacio, Vilá, Carles and Amato, George 2016. Multiple paternity in a reintroduced population of the Orinoco Crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) at the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela. PLOS ONE 11 (3) , e0150245. 10.1371/journal.pone.0150245

[thumbnail of Rossi Lafferriere 2016 PlosOne Orinoco crocodile paternity.PDF]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (610kB) | Preview

Abstract

The success of a reintroduction program is determined by the ability of individuals to reproduce and thrive. Hence, an understanding of the mating system and breeding strategies of reintroduced species can be critical to the success, evaluation and effective management of reintroduction programs. As one of the most threatened crocodile species in the world, the Orinoco crocodile (Crocodylus intermedius) has been reduced to only a few wild populations in the Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia. One of these populations was founded by reintroduction at Caño Macanillal and La Ramera lagoon within the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela. Twenty egg clutches of C. intermedius were collected at the El Frío Biological Station for incubation in the lab and release of juveniles after one year. Analyzing 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci from 335 hatchlings we found multiple paternity in C. intermedius, with half of the 20 clutches fathered by two or three males. Sixteen mothers and 14 fathers were inferred by reconstruction of multilocus parental genotypes. Our findings showed skewed paternal contributions to multiple-sired clutches in four of the clutches (40%), leading to an overall unequal contribution of offspring among fathers with six of the 14 inferred males fathering 90% of the total offspring, and three of those six males fathering more than 70% of the total offspring. Our results provide the first evidence of multiple paternity occurring in the Orinoco crocodile and confirm the success of reintroduction efforts of this critically endangered species in the El Frío Biological Station, Venezuela.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Biosciences
Subjects: Q Science > QL Zoology
Additional Information: Copyright: © 2016 Rossi Lafferriere et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
ISSN: 1932-6203
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance: 11 February 2016
Last Modified: 16 May 2023 05:49
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/88100

Citation Data

Cited 7 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics