Evidence for frequent incest in a cooperatively breeding mammal.
Biol Lett
; 10(12): 20140898, 2014 Dec.
Article
de En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25540153
ABSTRACT
As breeding between relatives often results in inbreeding depression, inbreeding avoidance is widespread in the animal kingdom. However, inbreeding avoidance may entail fitness costs. For example, dispersal away from relatives may reduce survival. How these conflicting selection pressures are resolved is challenging to investigate, but theoretical models predict that inbreeding should occur frequently in some systems. Despite this, few studies have found evidence of regular incest in mammals, even in social species where relatives are spatio-temporally clustered and opportunities for inbreeding frequently arise. We used genetic parentage assignments together with relatedness data to quantify inbreeding rates in a wild population of banded mongooses, a cooperatively breeding carnivore. We show that females regularly conceive to close relatives, including fathers and brothers. We suggest that the costs of inbreeding avoidance may sometimes outweigh the benefits, even in cooperatively breeding species where strong within-group incest avoidance is considered to be the norm.
Mots clés
Texte intégral:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Base de données:
MEDLINE
Sujet principal:
Comportement sexuel chez les animaux
/
Mammifères
Type d'étude:
Prognostic_studies
Limites:
Animals
Langue:
En
Journal:
Biol Lett
Sujet du journal:
BIOLOGIA
Année:
2014
Type de document:
Article
Pays d'affiliation:
Royaume-Uni