Abstract
Matings between close relatives often reduce the fitness of offspring, probably because homozygosity leads to the expression of recessive deleterious alleles(1-5). Studies of several animals have shown that reproductive success is lower when genetic similarity between parents is high(4-7), and that survival and other measures of fitness increase with individual levels of genetic diversity(8-11). These studies indicate that natural selection may favour the avoidance of matings with genetically similar individuals. But constraints on social mate choice, such as a lack of alternatives, can lead to pairing with genetically similar mates. In such cases, it has been suggested that females may seek extra-pair copulations with less related males(4), but the evidence is weak or lacking(4,5). Here we report a strong positive relationship between the genetic similarity of social pair members and the occurrence of extra-pair paternity and maternity ('quasi-parasitism') in three species of shorebirds. We propose that extra-pair parentage may represent adaptive behavioural strategies to avoid the negative effects of pairing with a genetically similar mate.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 613-615 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Nature |
Volume | 419 |
Issue number | 6907 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2002 |