Influence of genetic similarity and social setting on extra-pair parentage in prairie voles.

ABSTRACT: Social monogamy is rare in mammals, but in those species in which it occurs, individuals frequently engage in extra-pair copulation (EPC). Numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain EPC, but relatively few field studies have examined factors influencing EPC in socially monogamous mammals. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are a socially monogamous rodent in which extra-pair paternity (EPP) is common. Using genetic data from a 3-year study of a natural population of prairie voles, we investigated whether the negative consequences of inbreeding and the structure of social units (male-female pairs vs. groups; adult sex ratio within groups) were factors affecting EPC. We found strong evidence that genetic similarity between males and females that produced offspring via EPC was

SUBMITTER: Keane B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11933278 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature