Multiple paternity in free-living root voles (Microtus oeconomus).

Behav Processes

Institute of Biology, University of Białystok, Swierkowa 20B, PL15-950 Białystok, Poland.

Published: October 2009

We used 10 microsatellite loci to determine the mating system and male reproductive success in a natural population of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus). By genotyping 21 females and their 111 offspring (5.28+/-0.27 S.E. pups per female), we found evidence for multiple paternity in 38% of the litters sired by two or three males. Paternity was not significantly skewed away from the null expectation of equal proportions of offspring sired in any of the multiple-sired litters, and the most successful male fathered between 40% and 60% of the pups in a litter. The results indicate that promiscuity is a common mode of reproduction, consistent with the previous classification of the mating system based on the spatial structure of the root vole population.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2009.05.003DOI Listing

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