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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Highly Influential Citations
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Background Citations
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Methods Citations
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Results Citations
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564 Citations

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References

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