Genome‐wide technologies open up new possibilities to clarify questions on genetic structure and phylogeographic history of taxa previously studied with microsatellite loci and mitochondrial sequences. Here, we used 736 individual red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) samples genotyped at 35,701 single nucleotide polymorphism loci (SNPs) to assess the population structure of the species throughout Europe. The results identified 28 popul...

Closely related species that have previously inhabited geographically separated ranges are hybridizing at an increasing rate due to human disruptions. These human‐mediated hybrid zones can be used to study reproductive isolation between species at secondary contact, including examining locus‐specific rates of introgression. Introgression is expected to be heterogenous across the genome, reflecting variation in selection. Those...

Knowledge of the underlying genetic architecture of quantitative traits could aid in understanding how they evolve. In wild populations, it is still largely unknown whether complex traits are polygenic or influenced by few loci with major effect, due to often small sample sizes and low resolution of marker panels. Here, we examine the genetic architecture of five adult body size traits in a free‐living population of S oay shee...

Identifying the genes underlying phenotypic variation in natural populations can provide novel insight into the evolutionary process. The candidate gene approach has been applied to studies of a number of traits in various species, in an attempt to elucidate their genetic basis. Here, we test the application of the candidate gene approach to identify the loci involved in variation in gastrointestinal parasite burden, a complex...

We investigated temporal changes in hybridization and introgression between native red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) and invasive Japanese sika ( Cervus nippon ) on the Kintyre Peninsula, Scotland, over 15 years, through analysis of 1513 samples of deer at 20 microsatellite loci and a mtDNA marker. We found no evidence that either the proportion of recent hybrids, or the levels of introgression had changed over the study period. Nev...

Comparative analyses of survival senescence by using life tables have identified generalizations including the observation that mammals senesce faster than similar‐sized birds. These generalizations have been challenged because of limitations of life‐table approaches and the growing appreciation that senescence is more than an increasing probability of death. Without using life tables, we examine senescence rates in annual ind...

Landscape features have been shown to strongly influence dispersal and, consequently, the genetic population structure of organisms. Studies quantifying the effect of landscape features on gene flow of large mammals with high dispersal capabilities are rare and have mainly been focused at large geographical scales. In this study, we assessed the influence of several natural and human‐made landscape features on red deer gene fl...

A growing literature now documents the presence of fine‐scale genetic structure in wild vertebrate populations. Breeding population size, levels of dispersal and polygyny — all hypothesized to affect population genetic structure — are known to be influenced by ecological conditions experienced by populations. However the possibility of temporal or spatial variation in fine‐scale genetic structure as a result of ecological chan...