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Do zebra finches prefer to mate with close relatives?

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Summary

A breeding experiment was performed to examine the hypothesis that zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) preferentially mate with full sibs. Each bird had the opportunity to mate with one of 2 sibs or 28 nonsibs. Preferential mating between relatives did not occur. Offspring of sib pairs developed more slowly and sib pairs experienced more reproductive loss through death of offspring.

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Author notes

  1. Isabelle A. Fetherston

    Present address: Biology Department, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, 02215, Boston, MA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 606 E. Healey Street, 61820, Champaign, IL, USA

    Isabelle A. Fetherston & Nancy Tyler Burley

Authors
  1. Isabelle A. Fetherston
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  2. Nancy Tyler Burley
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Offprint requests to: N. Tyler Burley

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Fetherston, I.A., Burley, N.T. Do zebra finches prefer to mate with close relatives?. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 27, 411–414 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164067

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00164067

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