A new study shows that Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) outbreaks can change the color of wolves’ fur and their mating habits.
The results demonstrate that wolves with black coats are less likely to die during a CDV outbreak than gray-coated wolves. The data combine extensive disease outbreak data from North America with long-term monitoring of the famed Yellowstone wolf population.
Even though black wolves are more likely to survive an outbreak than grey wolves, the authors found that they are less successful at having pups.
Most predators, including wolves, can contract CDV, a viral respiratory disease that can kill susceptible adults and decimate entire litters of young.
The effects of outbreaks on wildlife populations are often devastating. While the evolution of pathogens and the emergence of novel disease strains in animal populations are well-studied topics, far less is known about host resistance and how it is signaled to and maintained by other individuals.
Many animals exhibit a range of coloration that reflects environmental factors like height, weather, food availability, and the presence of predators.
It may also indicate someone’s health or immunological status.
Here, Sarah Cubaynes and associates investigated whether there is a connection between CDV and the observed variation in black-coated wolf frequency across North America.
It is known that black wolves have either two copies of a gene that makes them resistant to CDV or one copy of each copy.
Cubaynes et al. used cross-sectional data from 12 North American wolf populations, longitudinal data from wolves that were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, and modeling to determine that the frequency of CDV outbreaks generates fluctuating selection, resulting in heterozygote advantage, which in turn affects the frequency of the black allele.
This influences the mate preference of black-coated wolves in CDV-endemic regions.
However, grey-coated wolves breed more successfully in regions without CDV.
Image Credit: Getty
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