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Kin Discrimination in a Macropod Marsupial
Author(s) -
Blumstein Daniel T.,
Ardron Jodie G.,
Evans Christopher S.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1046/j.1439-0310.2002.00813.x
Subject(s) - marsupial , sociality , macropus , kinship , biology , aggression , kin recognition , monotreme , zoology , offspring , lineage (genetic) , evolutionary biology , ecology , developmental psychology , psychology , taxonomy (biology) , genetics , law , pregnancy , systematics , political science , gene
Differential treatment of kin is ubiquitous in social animals. Parents often behave preferentially towards their dependent offspring. Species in several taxa also bias behaviour towards non‐descendent kin. This latter phenomenon has not been demonstrated in marsupials, which are reportedly less social than eutherian mammals. We report the first evidence of non‐parental kin‐biased behaviour in a macropodid marsupial. Experimental pairing of individuals based on kinship reliably altered the rate of aggression between individuals in pairs of female tammar wallabies ( Macropus eugenii ). This effect is probably attributable to relatedness rather than to familiarity. Marsupial sociality may be substantially more complex than is currently recognized.