Rudolph & global warming

[Karstad-Schueler]

Ken Kinman wrote:
>
>  With global warming we are likely to see more fog.  Although
> Rudolph displays an uncommon variation in nasal
> morphology, the increasing
> likelihood of fog would make him increasingly attractive
> to females, thus increasing the chances that his genes
> will be selected and increase in frequency.
>
> ...the possibility of inbreeding may render this new "deme" of
> reindeer vulnerable to the problems of inbreeding
> similar to that encountered in the cheetah.

* It seems to me that if the 'gang' of male Rangifer with which Rudolph
travels exhibit, as is widely suggested, a global migration pattern, they
are unlikely to associate solely with females from only one subspecies of
Reindeer/Caribou, so, assuming that their volant character confers higher
status than that enjoyed by purely terrestrial bulls, they are likely to
leave descendents all over the north (polluting the gene pool of many
hitherto isolated populations: where are the IUCN and COSEWIC when we
need them?), so the future of the 'red-nosed' morphotype will depend
largely on whether it is recessive or dominant: if recessive it is likely
to be lost through genetic drift, but if dominant (and selectively
advantageous, as has already been suggested on this thread) it is likely
to become widespread. This will make possible direct satellite monitoring
of Caribou herds in the 6800 A band, a bit of bioengineering that will
be welcomed by all managerial types.

fred schueler.
------------------------------------------------------------
         Eastern    Ontario    Biodiversity    Museum
                Grenville Co, Ontario, Canada
(RR#2 Oxford Station, K0G 1T0) (613)258-3107   bckcdb at istar.ca
------------------------------------------------------------