SynthesisNature ecology & evolution2021
Meta-analytic evidence that animals rarely avoid inbreeding.
Synthesis in Nature ecology & evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sex-specific inbreeding depression: A meta-analysis.Ecology letters · 2022Pooled it
- Why don't all animals avoid inbreeding?Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Pooled it
- Allelic association analyses: estimation recommendations.Genetics · 2026Article
- Testing for pre- and post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance in the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum.PloS one · 2026Article
- Genetic Relatedness Promotes Equal Contributions of Males and Females to Brood Care in a Biparental Cichlid Fish.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Limited inbreeding avoidance at the gamete level despite inbreeding depression in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Inbreeding avoidance and cost in a small, isolated trout population.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Multiple mechanisms for inbreeding avoidance used simultaneously in a wild ape.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Dispersal, kin aggregation, and the fitness consequences of not spreading sibling larvae.Ecology · 2023Article
- Fitness consequences of cousin marriage: a life-history assessment in two populations.Evolutionary human sciences · 2023Article
- Sex-specific effects of inbreeding on body colouration and physiological colour change in the cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Lack of inbreeding avoidance during mate selection in migratory monarch butterflies.Behavioural processes · 2022Article
- Short and long-term costs of inbreeding in the lifelong-partnership in a termite.Communications biology · 2022Article
- Mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance in a wild primate.Current biology : CB · 2022Article
- Patterns of sex-biased dispersal are consistent with social and ecological constraints in a group-living cichlid fish.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Evidence of low within-pair genetic relatedness in a relict population of Thorn-tailed Rayadito despite long-term isolation.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Effects of inbreeding and elevated rearing temperatures on strategic sperm investment.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- The effect of developmental temperature and inbreeding on sexual and reproductive traits of female guppies.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Inbreeding strategies under social and sexual complexity: insights from female and male guppies.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Animals are usually expected to avoid mating with relatives (kin avoidance) as incestuous mating can lead to the expression of inbreeding depression. Yet, theoretical models predict that unbiased mating with regards to kinship should be common, and that under some conditions, the inclusive fitness benefits associated with inbreeding can even lead to a preference for mating with kin. This mismatch between empirical and theoretical expectations generates uncertainty as to the prevalence of inbreeding avoidance in animals. Here, we synthesized 677 effect sizes from 139 experimental studies of mate choice for kin versus non-kin in diploid animals, representing 40 years of research, using a meta-analytical approach. Our meta-analysis revealed little support for the widely held view that animals avoid mating with kin, despite clear evidence of publication bias. Instead, unbiased mating with regards to kinship appears widespread across animals and experimental conditions. The significance of a variety of moderators was explored using meta-regressions, revealing that the degree of relatedness and prior experience with kin explained some variation in the effect sizes. Yet, we found no difference in kin avoidance between males and females, choice and no-choice experiments, mated and virgin animals or between humans and animals. Our findings highlight the need to rethink the widely held view that inbreeding avoidance is a given in experimental studies.
Indexed as
Identifiers
33941905What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.