Domestication effect of reduced brain size is reverted when mink become feral

Ann-Kathrin Pohle; Andrzej Zalewski; Marion Muturi; Christian Dullin; Lucie Farková; Lara Keicher; Dina K N Dechmann

doi:10.1098/rsos.230463

Domestication effect of reduced brain size is reverted when mink become feral

R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Jul 5;10(7):230463. doi: 10.1098/rsos.230463. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Authors

Ann-Kathrin Pohle^{1

2

3}, Andrzej Zalewski⁴, Marion Muturi¹, Christian Dullin^{5

6

7}, Lucie Farková^{1

8}, Lara Keicher^{1

3}, Dina K N Dechmann^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany.
² Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestraße 5a, 78467 Konstanz, Germany.
³ University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
⁴ Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland.
⁵ Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Medical Center Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
⁶ Department Translational Molecular Imaging, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Herman-Rein-Straße 3, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
⁷ Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 420, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
⁸ Department of Zoology, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 00 Prague, Czech Republic.

Abstract

A typical consequence of breeding animal species for domestication is a reduction in relative brain size. When domesticated animals escape from captivity and establish feral populations, the larger brain of the wild phenotype is usually not regained. In the American mink (Neovison vison), we found an exception to this rule. We confirmed the previously described reduction in relative braincase size and volume compared to their wild North American ancestors in mink bred for their fur in Poland, in a dataset of 292 skulls. We then also found a significant regrowth of these measures in well-established feral populations in Poland. Closely related, small mustelids are known for seasonal reversible changes in skull and brain size. It seems that these small mustelids are able to regain the brain size, which is adaptive for living in the wild, and flexibly respond to selection accordingly.

Keywords: American mink; brain size; domestication; feralization.

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6708315