Banded mongooses avoid inbreeding when mating with members of the same natal group.

ABSTRACT: Inbreeding and inbreeding avoidance are key factors in the evolution of animal societies, influencing dispersal and reproductive strategies which can affect relatedness structure and helping behaviours. In cooperative breeding systems, individuals typically avoid inbreeding through reproductive restraint and/or dispersing to breed outside their natal group. However, where groups contain multiple potential mates of varying relatedness, strategies of kin recognition and mate choice may be favoured. Here, we investigate male mate choice and female control of paternity in the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), a cooperatively breeding mammal where both sexes are often philopatric and mating between relatives is known to occur. We find evidence suggestive of inbreeding depression in banded mongoos

SUBMITTER: Sanderson JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5008155 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature