Female mating preferences for outbred versus inbred males are conditional upon the female's own inbreeding status

摘要: Inbreeding occurs when relatives mate with each other, and it often has detrimental effects for the fitness of any resulting offspring. It is an important issue in ecology evolutionary biology profound implications genetic variation evolution mating systems reproductive strategies. For example, inbreeding may shape choice through avoidance outbred, related individuals to prevent inbreeding, or inbred, unrelated that have been produced inbreeding. Although former studied extensively, little known about preferences based on status potential partners. also unclear whether these are influenced by choosing sex. Here, we examined female outbred versus inbred males using dichotomous tests burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We found were conditional upon female's own status: females preferentially mated males, whereas did not show such a preference. Our findings suggest suffer reduced success only interacting females. In species where this case, costs respect male will therefore depend frequency relative females, which depends rate population.