Allozyme variability in autochthonous colonies of Swiss Alpine marmots (Marmota m. marmota): A confirmation of the "species-wide bottleneck hypothesis"?

Allozymic variability of 303 Alpine marmots (Marmota m. marmota) from three local populations of the Swiss canton Grisons was studied by horizontal st arch gel electrophoresis to corroborate or refute the "species-wide bottlen eck hypothesis" of this species. This hypothesis has previously been sugges ted in order to explain the low genetic variability on the allozyme level f ound so far in all regional populations of this species (P r e l e u t h n e r & P i n s k e r 1993). Based on 25.436 genes presently studied, polymor phism was found at eight of 48 loci screened. All polymorphic loci were dia llelic. Overall rate of polymorphism (16.7%) was significantly higher than the value based on all populations screened earlier from the Eastern and fr om parts of the Western Alps. Population-specific rates of polymorphism (8. 33 - 14.58 %), expected heterozygosities (2.3 - 3.8 %) and H-e/ P -rates we re well within the ranges found in many terrestrian mammalian species witho ut obvious bottleneck history. These results contradict the "species-wide b ottleneck hypothesis" of Alpine marmots.