Low neutral genetic variability in a specialist puffin hunter: the Norwegian Lundehund

Abstract

Summary The genetic variability of 125 N orwegian L undehund and 27 N ova S cotia D uck T olling R etriever was analysed using a set of 26 microsatellite markers. In L undehund, the average number of alleles per locus was 1.73, and average observed ( H O ) and expected ( H E ) heterozygosity were 0.07. In T oller, all measures of genetic diversity were much higher than in L undehund and similar to studies on other dog breeds. The cluster analysis correctly assigned individuals to their respective breed. The low genetic variability in L undehund was not surprising, given the two strong bottlenecks in the 1940s and the 1960s. The relatedness of L undehund to other N ordic small spitzes should be investigated in the view of possible outcrossing.