Colony structure and parentage in wild colonies of co-operatively breeding Damaraland mole-rats suggest incest avoidance alone may not maintain reproductive skew

Molecular Ecology
Tamsin M BurlandC G Faulkes

Abstract

Colonies of co-operatively breeding African mole-rats have traditionally been thought to be composed of a single breeding female, one or two breeding males, and their offspring. In the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber), the occurrence of facultative inbreeding means incest avoidance cannot prevent reproduction in subordinate group members, and physiological suppression of reproductive function by the breeding female occurs in both sexes. In contrast, previous studies of captive colonies of the Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis) suggest that breeding within a colony is restricted to a single breeding pair, simply because all other colony members are highly related (first- or second-order relatives) and this species is an obligate outbreeder. Using microsatellite markers, we investigated parentage and colony composition in 18 wild Damaraland mole-rat colonies to determine whether inbreeding avoidance alone can explain the high levels of reproductive skew in this species. Multiple and unidentified paternity was widespread within colonies and immigrants of both sexes were regularly identified. Unrelated, opposite-sex nonbreeders were found coexisting in two colonies. These results suggest that, in the wild, conditions ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Oct 7, 2009·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Tim Clutton-Brock
Jan 23, 2013·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Jacobus J Boomsma
Apr 10, 2013·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Chris G Faulkes, Nigel C Bennett
Oct 30, 2013·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Andrew J Young, Nigel C Bennett
Apr 16, 2013·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Heike LutermannNigel C Bennett
May 7, 2009·Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology·Melissa M HolmesNancy G Forger
Jun 22, 2010·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Andrew J Young, Nigel C Bennett
Jun 10, 2015·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·David Haig
Sep 10, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Rute MendonçaFabrice Helfenstein

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