Abstract
Albinism is a rare condition in natural populations. One of the factors that would lead to higher allele frequency for the albino phenotype is bottleneck events, causing small population sizes and loss of genetic diversity. Here, we report the first record of albinism in one specimen of Proechimys gardneri from Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil. This is also the first record of albinism for the genus and for the family Echimyidae. We identified the specimen through morphology and confirmed the identification by 801 base pairs (bp) of mitochondrial marker cytochrome b (Cyt b). We also discuss the selection against albino phenotype in natural populations.
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to M. de Vivo and J. Gualda (MZUSP) for the loan of specimens from UHE Jirau. Anonymous reviewers made suggestions that improved this note. J.L. Patton donated the Cyt b sequences to perform the genetic analyses. B.T. Pinotti, J.L. Souza, G.Z. Rezende, J.R. Prado, A.P.M. Lopes, M.B. César and S.G. Oliveira provided help in the field. B.T. Pinotti allowed us to use his photo in Figure 1. Authors were supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo – FAPESP: JD (grant #: 15/02853-6, 16/24464-4); PROR: (grant #: 14/19126-7, 16/20693-9); ARP (grant #: 09/16009-1, 16/20055-2, Funder Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001807).
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