Email this morning brought us some news to be worried about: a new genetic analysis from researchers at Penn State shows considerable inbreeding among Kirtland's Warblers.
Why does this matter? Well, we know that inbreeding can bring forward all kinds of recessive genes resulting in various deformities. Inbreeding among 16 generations of the members of the House of Habsbergs led to Charles II of Spain having a jaw that was so badly deformed that he could not chew. An autopsy after his death claimed his heart was the size of a peppercorn. Other family members suffered from insanity and epilepsy.
The Habsbergs chose to breed inside the family to consolidate power. In the case of the Kirtland's Warblers, it seems that birds with similar genetic backgrounds bred with one another simply because there was no other option given the size of the population.
The researchers identified the inbreeding by looking for "runs of homozygosity" or long strands of identical DNA that would come from parents with similar genetic backgrounds.
There are no indications, however, that Kirtland's Warblers are turning into the Habsbergs. We have seen no signs of physical deformities, and we're not sure we would recognize insanity in a bird, so maybe it's best to let the press release from Science Daily warn us what to look for:
"The researchers noted that the Kirtland's warblers they sampled did not appear to have any physical deformities. However, they said that inbreeding could manifest during the stages of life they did not observe, for example during development or the energy-intensive task of migration, or impact aspects of their reproductive success, such as how many eggs they lay or how many hatch."
The researchers said that monitoring for these would be important to species survival.
Is there a solution? We're not sure, but lead researcher Anna María Calderón, a graduate student in biology in the Penn State Eberly College of Science, will be presenting her findings at the winter meeting of the Kirtland's Warbler Conservation Team in February. We'll report more after hearing what she has to say.
You can read the Science Daily press release here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241210142037.htm
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