Abstract:Behavioral discrimination of kin is a key process structuring social relationships in animals. In this study, we provide evidence for discrimination towards non-kin by third-parties through a mechanism of phenotype matching. In mandrills, we recently demonstrated increased facial resemblance among paternally related juvenile and adult females indicating adaptive opportunities for paternal kin recognition. Here, we hypothesize that mandrill mothers use offspring’s facial resemblance with other infants to guide … Show more
“…These theoretical developments set the stage for thousands of empirical studies of social behavior. Now, in eLife, Marie Charpentier and colleagues in France, Germany and Gabon – including joint first author Clémence Poirotte – report intriguing new evidence which deepens our understanding of how kin selection may take place within complex societies ( Charpentier et al, 2022 ).…”
By spending more time around infants which physically resemble their own, mandrill mothers may increase how frequently their offspring interact with their paternal half siblings.
“…These theoretical developments set the stage for thousands of empirical studies of social behavior. Now, in eLife, Marie Charpentier and colleagues in France, Germany and Gabon – including joint first author Clémence Poirotte – report intriguing new evidence which deepens our understanding of how kin selection may take place within complex societies ( Charpentier et al, 2022 ).…”
By spending more time around infants which physically resemble their own, mandrill mothers may increase how frequently their offspring interact with their paternal half siblings.
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