May 5, 2021 12:50 AM
https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/animal...nbreeding/
EXCERPTS: Because it’s evolutionarily unfavourable, there is a common assumption that animals will avoid mating with relatives. Inbreeding can lead to ‘inbreeding depression’: a reduction in available traits for offspring, making the population less genetically diverse and thus less able to adapt to their environments.
But nature doesn’t operate with a genetic testing kit in hand. A new meta-analysis in Nature Ecology & Evolution has found that on the whole, animals – even humans – don’t avoid inbreeding.
[...] “People assume that animals should avoid mating with a relative when given the chance,” she adds. “But evolutionary theory has been telling us that animals should tolerate, or even prefer, mating with relatives under a broad range of conditions for more than four decades.”
This rule also holds true for humans, showing people are not hardwired to avoid mating with relatives – something royal historians have been pointing out for centuries. [...] The study also highlights publication bias in the field, suggesting that studies were more likely to get published if they showed evidence of inbreeding avoidance... (MORE - details)
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Points scored for Anti-Atlanticism?
Yet another blow to W.E.I.R.D. culture (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) that introduced the irregularly violated, cousin incest taboo: https://www.scivillage.com/thread-7818-p...l#pid32888
EXCERPTS: Because it’s evolutionarily unfavourable, there is a common assumption that animals will avoid mating with relatives. Inbreeding can lead to ‘inbreeding depression’: a reduction in available traits for offspring, making the population less genetically diverse and thus less able to adapt to their environments.
But nature doesn’t operate with a genetic testing kit in hand. A new meta-analysis in Nature Ecology & Evolution has found that on the whole, animals – even humans – don’t avoid inbreeding.
[...] “People assume that animals should avoid mating with a relative when given the chance,” she adds. “But evolutionary theory has been telling us that animals should tolerate, or even prefer, mating with relatives under a broad range of conditions for more than four decades.”
This rule also holds true for humans, showing people are not hardwired to avoid mating with relatives – something royal historians have been pointing out for centuries. [...] The study also highlights publication bias in the field, suggesting that studies were more likely to get published if they showed evidence of inbreeding avoidance... (MORE - details)
- - - - - -
Points scored for Anti-Atlanticism?
Yet another blow to W.E.I.R.D. culture (western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) that introduced the irregularly violated, cousin incest taboo: https://www.scivillage.com/thread-7818-p...l#pid32888