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Behavioral Ecology Vol. 14 No. 4: 472-480
© 2003 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

A genetic analysis of breeding success in the cooperative meerkat (Suricata suricatta)

Ashleigh S. Griffina,, Josephine M. Pembertona, Peter N. M. Brothertonb, Grant McIlrathc, David Gaynorc, Ruth Kanskyc, Justin O'Riainc and Timothy H. Clutton-Brockb

a Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK b Large Animal Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB23EJ, UK c Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, 0002 Pretoria, Republic of South Africa

Address correspondence to A.S. Griffin. E-mail: a.griffin{at}ed.ac.u.

Measurement of reproductive skew in social groups is fundamental to understanding the evolution and maintenance of sociality, as it determines the immediate fitness benefits to helpers of staying and helping in a group. However, there is a lack of studies in natural populations that provide reliable measures of reproductive skew and the correlates of reproductive success, particularly in vertebrates. We present results of a study that uses a combination of field and genetic (microsatellite) data on a cooperatively breeding mongoose, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta). We sampled 458 individuals from 16 groups at two sites and analyzed parentage of pups in 110 litters with up to 12 microsatellites. We show that there is strong reproductive skew in favor of dominants, but that the extent of skew differs between the sexes and between different sites. Our data suggest that the reproductive skew arises from incest avoidance and reproductive suppression of the subordinates by the dominants.

Key words: cooperative breeding, incest avoidance, microsatellites, parentage analysis, relatedness, reproductive skew.


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