Inclusive fitness benefits mitigate costs of cuckoldry to socially paired males.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In socially monogamous species, reproduction is not always confined to paired males and females. Extra-pair males commonly also reproduce with paired females, which is traditionally thought to be costly to the females' social partners. However, we suggest that when the relatedness between reproducing individuals is considered, cuckolded males can suffer lower fitness losses than otherwise expected, especially when the rate of cuckoldry is high. We combine theoretical modeling with a detailed genetic study on a socially monogamous wild fish, Variabilichromis moorii, which displays biparental care despite exceptionally high rates of extra-pair paternity.

Results

We measured the relatedness between all parties involved in V. moorii spawning events (i.e. between males

SUBMITTER: Bose APH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6354359 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature