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Science 26 March 1982:
Vol. 215. no. 4540, pp. 1639 - 1641
DOI: 10.1126/science.215.4540.1639
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Articles

Prairie Dogs Avoid Extreme Inbreeding

JOHN L. HOOGLAND 1

1 Department of Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Rodentia: Sciuridae: Cynomys ludovicianus) live in colonies composed of contiguous but separate family groups called coteries. During the 6 years that individuals in a colony were observed, they almost nevermated with close genetic relatives. Inbreeding is avoided in four ways: (i) a young male usually leaves his natal coterie before breeding, but his female relatives remain; (ii) an adult male usually leaves his breeding coterie before his daughters mature; (iii) a young female is less likely to come into estrus if her father is in her coterie; and (iv) an estrous female behaviorally avoids mating with a father, son, or brother in her coterie.

Submitted on January 17, 1981
Revised on September 21, 1981


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
No evidence for inbreeding avoidance in a great reed warbler population.
B. Hansson, L. Jack, J. K. Christians, J. M. Pemberton, M. Akesson, H. Westerdahl, S. Bensch, and D. Hasselquist (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 157-164
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Infanticide in Prairie Dogs: Lactating Females Kill Offspring of Close Kin.
J. L. HOOGLAND (1985)
Science 230, 1037-1040
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