Mating dynamics and multiple paternity in a long-lived vertebrate.

ABSTRACT: Multiple paternity is relatively common across diverse taxa; however, the drivers and implications related to paternal and maternal fitness are not well understood. Several hypotheses have been offered to explain the occurrence and frequency of multiple paternity. One set of hypotheses seeks to explain multiple paternity through direct and indirect benefits including increased genetic diversity or enhanced offspring fitness, whereas another set of hypotheses explains multiple paternity as a by-product of sexual conflict and population-specific parameters such as density. Here, we investigate mating system dynamics in a historically studied population of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in coastal South Carolina. We examine parentage in 151 nests across 6 years and find t

SUBMITTER: Zajdel J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6787947 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature