Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1992-4-29
pubmed:abstractText
1. Sharing recent ancestry (kinship) increases the degree of genetic similarity between individuals, where genetic similarity could mean anything from sharing a particular allele to sharing an entire genome. 2. Genetic similarity can influence behavioural and other responses between individuals in a number of ways, discriminatory and non-discriminatory. All are likely to result in kin bias, because of the correlation between genetic similarity and kinship, but only some should be regarded as involving kin discrimination. 3. Non-discriminatory kin bias could arise through close relatives sharing, for instance, physical characteristics (such as those influencing competitive ability), thresholds of behavioural response or requirements for particular resources. 4. Discriminatory kin bias could arise through the direct perception of genetic similarity between individuals (direct similarity discrimination) or the use of cues likely to correlate with genetic similarity (indirect similarity discrimination--of which kin discrimination is one form). Alternatively, it could arise incidentally through mistaken identity or discrimination at some other level, such as species identification. 5. Experiments with laboratory and wild house mice have revealed kin bias in a number of contexts, including (a) parental and infanticidal behaviour, (b) sexual development and behaviour and (c) investigatory behaviour and passive body contact among juveniles and adults. 6. While kin bias in mice has been interpreted as evidence for kin discrimination, there are several problems with such an interpretation. These include (a) pronounced and complex effects of familiarity on discrimination, (b) a high risk of error-proneness in the indirect cues used in apparent kin discrimination and (c) weak and easily disrupted kin bias effects in certain contexts. 7. Consideration of social structure and discriminatory responses within populations of wild house mice leads to an alternative explanation for some kin bias in terms of incidental discrimination based on social group membership. 8. Several results from laboratory experiments suggest incidental discrimination is a more parsimonious explanation than kin discrimination for some intrasexual kin bias in behaviour. However, kin or direct similarity discrimination appears to be the most likely explanation for other aspects of intrasexual kin bias and for intersexual kin bias.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
1464-7931
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
66
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
379-430
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-7
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1991
pubmed:articleTitle
Of mice and kin: the functional significance of kin bias in social behaviour.
pubmed:affiliation
Behaviour and Ecology Research Group, Department of Life Science, University of Nottingham, UK.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't