Super proud of @meaghansaurus.bsky.social and all the effort this study represents in the field (led by Eric Hileman & Jen Moore!) and in the lab. Worrisome story for the snakes, but important to know, learn from & act on.
Sarah W. Fitzpatrick
Thrilled to have a new paper out where we use 12+ years of monitoring data to document the impacts of inbreeding on fitness in eastern massasauga rattlesnakes! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org
Small and fragmented populations are at high risk of local extinction, in part because
of elevated inbreeding and subsequent inbreeding depression....
