Cases of melanism in mountain hare (Lepus timidus) in Yakutia

Boeskorov G.G., Vinokurov V.N., Shchelchkova M.V., Boeskorov V.G.

P. 79-84

Cases of melanism in the mountain hare Lepus timidus in the territory of Yakutia were analyzed. The highest frequency of this rare phenomenon was observed in the basin of the Vilyuy River, with at least nine cases over the last 50 years. It was proposed that this phenomenon was the result of increased mutagenesis in this territory, due to consequence of the features of the natural geochemical background and anthropogenic pollution.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.19.1.08

• Averianov A.O. 1994. [Systematics and evolution of hares of the genus Lepus (Lagomorpha, Leporidae) of the Palaearctic] // Abstract of PhD Dissertation in Zoology. Saint Petersburg: Zoological Institute RAS. 24 p. [in Russian].
• Bazhan N.M., Makarova E.N. & Yakovleva T.V. 2000. [Natural selection and the maintenance of coat-color polymorphism in the water vole populations] // Kolchanov N. et al. (eds.). [Biodiversity and Dynamics of Ecosystems in North Eurasia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. P.35–38 [in Russian].
• Bazhan N.M., Yakovleva T.V. & Makarova E.N. 1999. Agouti locus may influence reproduction under food deprivation in the water vole (Arvicola terrestris) // Journal of Experimental Zoology. Vol.283. No.6. P.573–579.
• Blanke I. 2010. Die Zauneidechse // Zeitschrift für Feldherpetologie. No.7. S.1–176.
• Burtsev I.S. & Kolodeznikov E.N. 1996. [Radiation situation at the objects of emergency underground nuclear explosions Kraton-3 and Crystal] // Savvinov D.D. & Shumilov Yu.V. (eds.). [Ecology of the Vilyuy River Basin: materials to assess the environmental status]. Yakutsk: Izdatelstvo Polygrafist. P.42–63 [in Russian].
• Capula M., Cipolla R.M., Corti C. & Nappi A. 2008. Allochromatic individuals of Podarcis siculus from southern Italy: evidence for high variability in coloration pattern in island and mainland populations from Campania // 6th Symposium on the Lacertids of the Mediterranean Basin. 23–27 June, 2008. Mythimna Lesvos, Greece. P.23–24.
• Clusella Trullas S., Terblanche J.S., Blackburn T.M. & Chown S.L. 2008. Testing the thermal melanism hypothesis: a macrophysiological approach // Functional Ecology. Vol.22. P.232–238.
• Doronin I.V. 2012. [On cases of melanism in lizards of the genus Darevskia] // Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. Vol.91. No.11. P.1420–1427 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Eizirik E., Yuhki N., Johnson W.E., Menotti-Raymond M., Hannah S.S. & OBrien S.J. 2003. Molecular genetics and evolution of melanism in the cat family // Current Biology. Vol.13. No.5. P.448–453.
• Evsikov V.I., Nazarova G.G. & Potapov M.A. 1997. [Genetic-ecological monitoring of the cycling population of the water vole (Arvicola terrestris) in the south of Western Siberia] // Genetika. Vol.33. No.7. P.1133–1143 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Galaka B.A. 1967. [On the discovery of a black hare in the Nikolaev Region] // Vestnik Zoologii. No.2. P.80–81 [in Russian].
• Gashev S.N. & Parfenov A.D. 2006. [The collection of mistakes of nature in the Zoological Museum of Tyumen State University] // Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Darvinovskogo Muzeya. No.9. P.221–227. [In Russian]
• Ge D.Y., Lissovsky A.A., Xia L., Cheng C., Smith A. & Yang Q. 2012. Reevaluation of several taxa of Chinese lagomorphs (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) described on the basis of pelage phenotype variation // Mammalian Biology. Vol.77. No.2. P.113–123.
• Gershenzon S.M. 1946. [The role of natural selection in the distribution and dynamics of melanism in hamsters (Cricetus cricetus L.)] // Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii. Vol.7. No.2. P.97–130 [in Russian].
• Heptner V.G., Naumov N.P., Jurgenson P.B., Sludskiy A.A., Chirkova A.F. & Bannikov A.G. 1967. [Mammals of the Soviet Union. Vol.2. Pt.1. Sea Cows and Carnivora]. Moscow: Vysshaya Shkola. 1014 p. [in Russian].
• Hoffmann R.S. & Smith A.T. 2005. Order Lagomorpha // Wilson D.E. & Reeder D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd. ed. Vol.1. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. P.185–211.
• Kawanishi K., Sunquist M.E., Eizirik E., Lynam A.J., Ngoprasert D., Wan Shahruddin W.N., Rayan D.M., Sharma D.S.K. & Steinmetz R. 2010. Near fixation of melanism in leopards of the Malay Peninsula // Journal of Zoology. Vol.282. No.3. P.201–206.
• Kettlewell H.B.D. 1955. Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera // Heredity. Vol.9. No.3. P.323–342.
• Krapivko T.P. 1999. [The case of melanism in the red vole population] // Tezisy Dokladov VI Sezda Teriologicheskogo Obshchestva. Moscow. P.129 [in Russian].
• Kukushkin O.V. 2009. [On some patterns in the distribution of the Lindholm lizard (Sauria, Lacertidae) on the southeastern coast of the Crimea] // Samarskaya Luka: Problemy Regionalnoi i Globalnoi Ekologii. Vol.18. No.1. P.68–75 [in Russian].
• Maak R.K. 1886. [The Vilyuy District of the Yakutsk Region]. Saint Petersburg: Typographiya i Khromolithographiya A.Transchelya. 504 p. [in Russian].
• Majerus M.E.N. 1998. Melanism: Evolution in Action. New York: Oxford University Press. 388 p.
• Majerus M.E. 2009. Industrial melanism in the peppered moth, Biston betularia: an excellent teaching example of Darwinian evolution in action // Evolution: Education and Outreach. Vol.2. No.1. P.63–74.
• Malyshev Yu.S. 2010. [Melanism in the red vole population (Clethrionomys rutilus Pallas) of the Upper Angara Basin] // Baikalskii Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. No.2. P.81–85 [in Russian].
• Malyshev Yu.S. 2015. [Detection of melanism in the population of the northern pika (Ochotona hyperborea Pallas) of the Upper Angara Basin] // Baikalskii Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. No.2. P.91–96 [in Russian].
• Marshintsev V.K. & Yagnishev B.S. 2008. [Geological and geochemical features of the Vilyui region and the state of health of its local population] // Savvinov G.N. (ed.). Ekologicheskaya Bezopasnost Yakutii. Yakutsk: Izdatelstvo Yakutskogo Nauchnogo Tcentra SO RAN. P.321–338 [in Russian].
• Mutsetoni V.M. 1987. [White raven and birds-of-paradise]. Moscow: Lesnaya Promyshlennost. 136 p. [in Russian].
• Ognev S.I. 1940. [The Mammals of the USSR and Adjacent Countries. Vol.4]. Moscow, Leningrad: Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. 615 p. [in Russian].
• Pearson T. 1938. The Tasmanian brush opossum, its distribution and colour varieties // Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. P.21–30.
• Seidensticker J. & Lumpkin S. 2006. Cats. New York: Harper Perennial Publ. 218 p.
• Sharygin S.A. & Popov V.N. 2003. [Phenotypic variability and geochemical ecology of some true Crimea lizards] // Aktualnye Problemy Gerpetologii i Toksinologii (Tolyatti). No.6. P.110–116 [in Russian].
• Tavrovsky V.A., Egorov O.V., Krivosheev V. G., Popov M.V. & Labutin Yu.V. 1971. [Mammals of Yakutia]. Moscow: Nauka. 659 p. [in Russian]
• Timofeeff-Ressovsky N.W. 1940. Zur Analyse des Polymorphismus bei Adalia bipunctata L. // Biologisches Zentralblatt. Bd.60. No.3–4. S.130–137.
• Tuniyev B.S., Orlov N.L., Ananyeva N.B. & Agasyan A.L. 2009. [Snakes of the Caucasus: Taxonomic Diversity, Distribution, Protection]. Saint Petersburg, Moscow: KMK Scientific Press. 223 p. [in Russian].
• Ulmer F.A. 1941. Melanism in the Felidae, with special reference to the genus Lynx // Journal of Mammalogy. Vol.22. No.3. P.285–288.
• Vinokurov V.N., Boeskorov G.G., Shchelchkova M.V. & Duro-Daini A.V. 2017. [Observations on the anomalous cases in the mountain hare (Lepus timidus L.) in Yakutia] // Vestnik Severo-Vostochnogo Federalnogo Universiteta. No.10. P.5–12 [in Russian, with English summary].