Gene genealogies in haploid populations evolving according to sweepstakes reproduction
by Bjarki Eldon
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It has been suggested that highly fecund natural populations characterised by Type III survivorship may evolve according to sweepstakes reproduction, meaning high variance in the offspring number distribution. Sweepstakes reproduction may affect the evolution of the population in a number of ways. Here, we study gene genealogies of samples from diploid panmictic populations evolving according to sweepstakes reproduction in a random environment. The key results are (time-changed when the population size varies in time) simultaneous multiple-merger coalescents describing the random gene genealogies of a sample. We use simulations to study predictions of patterns of genetic variation of the resulting coalescents.
Image Description: The upper bound determines the limiting coalescent
