EXPERIMENTAL HYBRIDIZATION AND AN EVALUATION OF THE FERTILITY OF SOME FORMS OF THE HOUSE MOUSE SUPRASPECIES COMPLEX MUS MUSCULUS (RODENTIA, MURIDAE)

摘要

The degree of development of mechanisms for postcopulatory isolation was evaluated on the basis of experimental hybridization of three subspecies of M. musculus (M. m. musculus, M.m. wagneri, M m. gansuensis and remote populations of the subspecies M. m. musculus. Experimental crosses between different subspecies and populations indicated the presence of initial stages of the postcopulatory reproductive isolation between some forms of house mice. In a number of crosses conducted between different populations and subspecies of M. musculus, asymmetry was observed. In one variant of mating, M m. musculus (male) x female M. m. wagneri (female), a reduced intensity of breeding and pups' non-viability were observed. A decrease in the intensity of reproduction was found in all variants of crosses, which used male M. m. musculus of the city of Ishim. These data are assumed to confirm the previous assumption about the origin of hybrid mice inhabiting that city. The results confirm a significant level of divergence of the subspecies M. m. musculus and M. m. wagneri. Thus, initial stages both of post- and precopulatory isolation mechanisms between M m. wagneri and M. m. musculus were shown.