From population structure to individual behaviour: genetic analysis of social structure in the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

The European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) lives in stable, territori al breeding groups, with male-biased natal dispersal, female philopatry, an d a polygynous mating system. It was introduced into Britain in the 11th ce ntury and kept in captive warrens as a Food and fur resource. Populations e xpanded in the wild in the 18th century. Microsatellite markers were employ ed to examine the genetic structure of wild rabbit populations on three spa tial scales: macrogeographic structure of 17 populations in East Anglia. mi crogeographic structure of a tagged population in the grounds of the Univer sity of East Anglia over four consecutive years, and pairwise kinships and individual movement within this ragged population. Populations across East Anglia were found to be genetically distinct, and heterozygote deficits wer e observed at all loci indicating sub-division within sampled populations. Analysis of the tagged population confirmed that rabbit populations are gen etically sub-divided among social groups. Studying this population over fou r consecutive years revealed that as the population size increased, the num ber of social groups increased. Analysis of individual pairwise relatedness of females indicated that individuals did nor necessarily group with kin, and behavioural data indicate that ail optimum group size may exist which m aximizes reproductive success. (C) 1999 The Linnean Society of London.