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. 2014 Oct;27(10):2191-203.
doi: 10.1111/jeb.12473. Epub 2014 Sep 18.

Neighbouring-group composition and within-group relatedness drive extra-group paternity rate in the European badger (Meles meles)

G Annavi  1 , C Newman, H L Dugdale, C D Buesching, Y W Sin, T Burke, D W Macdonald
Affiliations
Free PMC article

Neighbouring-group composition and within-group relatedness drive extra-group paternity rate in the European badger (Meles meles)

G Annavi et al. J Evol Biol. 2014 Oct.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Extra-group paternity (EGP) occurs commonly among group-living mammals and plays an important role in mating systems and the dynamics of sexual selection; however, socio-ecological and genetic correlates of EGP have been underexplored. We use 23 years of demographic and genetic data from a high-density European badger (Meles meles) population, to investigate the relationship between the rate of EGP in litters and mate availability, mate incompatibility and mate quality (heterozygosity). Relatedness between within-group assigned mothers and candidate fathers had a negative quadratic effect on EGP, whereas the number of neighbouring-group candidate fathers had a linear positive effect. We detected no effect of mean or maximum heterozygosity of within-group candidate fathers on EGP. Consequently, EGP was associated primarily with mate availability, subject to within-group genetic effects, potentially to mitigate mate incompatibility and inbreeding. In badgers, cryptic female choice, facilitated by superfecundation, superfoetation and delayed implantation, prevents males from monopolizing within-group females. This resonates with a meta-analysis in group-living mammals, which proposed that higher rates of EGP occur when within-group males cannot monopolize within-group females. In contrast to the positive meta-analytic association, however, we found that EGP associated negatively with the number of within-group assigned mothers and the number of within-group candidate fathers; potentially a strategy to counter within-group males committing infanticide. The relationship between the rate of EGP and socio-ecological or genetic factors can therefore be intricate, and the potential for cryptic female choice must be accounted for in comparative studies.

Keywords: European badger; breeding density; extra-pair paternity; group composition; heterozygosity; inbreeding; mate incompatibility; mating system; promiscuity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of litters with only within-group offspring (WGO), only extra-group offspring (EGO) and having both WGO and EGO. Data were restricted to litters that include only cubs with both parents assigned (N = 378). Values at the top of each bar represent the numbers of offspring.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The relationship between the number of neighbouring-group candidate fathers and the relative proportion of extra-group paternity (EGP) measured as extra-group offspring (EGO) and extra-group mate-pairs (EGMP) per litter using the unrestricted data set. Data points represent the standardized (mean of zero and a standard deviation of two) raw data from which the regression lines are derived.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The relationship between the mean pairwise relatedness (Queller and Goodnight's estimator) of assigned mothers and candidate fathers within each social-group-year, and the relative proportion of extra-group paternity (EGP) measured as extra-group offspring (EGO) and extra-group mate pairs (EGMP) per litter using the unrestricted data set. Data points represent the standardized (mean of zero and a standard deviation of two) raw data from which the regression lines are derived.
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References

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