aebaker@csugreen.bitnet (ann baker biology dept 303 491 5307) (02/04/89)
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE To assess the "birth rate of demes" of house mice (Mus domesticus), I request cooperators willing to snap-trap mice entering their homes and to send me the carcasses. Alternatively, if the cooperator has access to a mammalogist, then just send data (species, sex, weight, date, location). This information will be used to assess the rate of evolution in house mice, where a higher rate of evolution is expected with a greater number of demes being founded. A deme is defined as a pregnant female entering a home or a male and female entering a home within a few days of each other. These data are extremely hard to get. Cooperation over a year or more is requested because each house is its own control (houses vary in degree of being mouse-proof). If you would like to cooperate but lack mice, we are also doing another study with which you could help, which will be listed as a separate file on the bulletin board. Preliminary data collected for homes in Fort Collins indicate most homes never have mice; usually 1-2 demes/y occurs, though one site (a milking room adjacent to a poultry shed, hay barn) had ca. 6 demes/y being founded. Deermice, house mice, and voles colonize homes. Homes with pets are more likely to have mice than homes without pets. Mice enter homes throughout the year, though most enter homes in the fall. These data will provide insight onto the genetic diversity of house mice (reviews: Curr Top Microbiol Immunol 1986 vol 121; 1981 Sympos Zool Soc Lond). Ann Eileen Miller Baker Biology Department Colorado State University Fort Collins 80523 303 491 5307 AEBAKER@CSUGREEN