title: Inbreeding tolerance and fitness costs in wild bottlenose dolphins.
abstract: In wild populations, inbreeding tolerance is expected to evolve where the cost of avoidance exceeds that of tolerance. We show that in a wild population of bottlenose dolphins found in East Shark Bay, Western Australia, levels of inbreeding are higher than expected by chance alone, and demonstrate that inbreeding is deleterious to female fitness in two independent ways. We found that inbred females, and females with inbred calves, have reduced fitness (lower calving success). We further show that one of the costs of inbreeding is extended weaning age, and that females' earlier calves are more likely to be inbred. While the exact causes of inbreeding remain obscure, our results indicate that one factor is female age, and thus experience. Any inbreeding avoidance mechanisms such as female evasion of kin, or male dispersal, do not seem to be completely effective in this population, which supports the view that inbreeding avoidance does not always evolve wherever inbreeding incurs a cost.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia. c.frere@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Céline H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Frère
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krützen
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kopps
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Sherwin
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D050681:Bottle-Nosed Dolphin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D007178:Inbreeding; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014886:Weaning
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