Data from: Assortative mating among animals of captive and wild origin following experimental conservation releases

Captive breeding is a high profile management tool used for conserving threatened species. However, the inevitable consequence of generations in captivity is broad scale and often-rapid phenotypic divergence between captive and wild individuals, through environmental differences and genetic processes. Although poorly understood, mate choice preference is one of the changes that may occur in captivity that could have important implications for the reintroduction success of captive-bred animals. We bred wild-caught house mice for three generations to examine mating patterns and reproductive outcomes when these animals were simultaneously released into multiple outdoor enclosures with wild conspecifics. At release, there were significant differences in phenotypic (e.g. body mass) and genetic measures (e.g. Gst and F) between captive-bred and wild adult mice. Furthermore, 83% of offspring produced post-release were of same source parentage, inferring pronounced assortative mating. Our findings suggest that captive breeding may affect mating preferences, with potentially adverse implications for the success of threatened species reintroduction programmes.

圈养繁育（captive breeding）是保护受威胁物种的一种备受关注的管理手段。然而，经过多代圈养后，受环境差异与遗传过程的影响，圈养种群与野生种群之间往往会出现大范围且快速的表型分化。尽管相关机制尚不明晰，但择偶偏好（mate choice preference）是圈养环境下可能发生的变化之一，其对圈养繁育动物的再引入成功率可能产生重要影响。我们以野生捕获的家鼠为对象，将其繁育至第三代，以考察这些个体与野生同种个体一同被释放至多个室外围栏（outdoor enclosures）后的交配模式与繁殖结果。放归时，圈养繁育与野生成年家鼠在表型指标（如体重）与遗传指标（如Gst和F）上均存在显著差异。此外，放归后产生的后代中有83%源自同一来源的亲本组合，由此可推断存在显著的同型交配（assortative mating）。本研究结果表明，圈养繁育可能会改变择偶偏好，这对受威胁物种的再引入计划成功率或存在潜在的不利影响。