Ancestral Monogamy Shows Kin Selection Is Key to the Evolution of Eusociality
@article{Hughes2008AncestralMS, title={Ancestral Monogamy Shows Kin Selection Is Key to the Evolution of Eusociality}, author={William O. H. Hughes and Benjamin P. Oldroyd and Madeleine Beekman and Francis L. W. Ratnieks}, journal={Science}, year={2008}, volume={320}, pages={1213 - 1216} }
Close relatedness has long been considered crucial to the evolution of eusociality. [] Key Method We tested this idea with a comparative analysis of female mating frequencies in 267 species of eusocial bees, wasps, and ants. We found that mating with a single male, which maximizes relatedness, is ancestral for all eight independent eusocial lineages that we investigated. Mating with multiple males is always derived. Furthermore, we found that high polyandry (>2 effective mates) occurs only in lineages whose…
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