Ancestral monogamy shows kin selection is key to the evolution of eusociality.

@article{citeulike:2871078, abstract = {Close relatedness has long been considered crucial to the evolution of eusociality. However, it has recently been suggested that close relatedness may be a consequence, rather than a cause, of eusociality. We tested this idea with a comparative analysis of female mating frequencies in 267 species of eusocial bees, wasps, and ants. We found that mating with a single male, which maximizes relatedness, is ancestral for all eight independent eusocial lineages that we investigated. Mating with multiple males is always derived. Furthermore, we found that high polyandry (>2 effective mates) occurs only in lineages whose workers have lost reproductive totipotency. These results provide the first evidence that monogamy was critical in the evolution of eusociality, strongly supporting the prediction of inclusive fitness theory.}, address = {Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. w.o.h.hughes@leeds.ac.uk}, author = {Hughes, W. O. and Oldroyd, B. P. and Beekman, M. and Ratnieks, F. L. }, citeulike-article-id = {2871078}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1156108}, issn = {1095-9203}, journal = {Science (New York, N.Y.)}, keywords = {eusociality, evolution, kin\_selection, monogamy, selection}, month = {May}, number = {5880}, pages = {1213--1216}, posted-at = {2008-06-12 15:05:06}, priority = {2}, title = {Ancestral monogamy shows kin selection is key to the evolution of eusociality.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1156108}, volume = {320}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2871078 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2871078 TI - Ancestral monogamy shows kin selection is key to the evolution of eusociality. JF - Science (New York, N.Y.) VL - 320 IS - 5880 SP - 1213 EP - 1216 AD - Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. w.o.h.hughes@leeds.ac.uk SN - 1095-9203 N2 - Close relatedness has long been considered crucial to the evolution of eusociality. However, it has recently been suggested that close relatedness may be a consequence, rather than a cause, of eusociality. We tested this idea with a comparative analysis of female mating frequencies in 267 species of eusocial bees, wasps, and ants. We found that mating with a single male, which maximizes relatedness, is ancestral for all eight independent eusocial lineages that we investigated. Mating with multiple males is always derived. Furthermore, we found that high polyandry (>2 effective mates) occurs only in lineages whose workers have lost reproductive totipotency. These results provide the first evidence that monogamy was critical in the evolution of eusociality, strongly supporting the prediction of inclusive fitness theory. KW - eusociality KW - evolution KW - kin_selection KW - monogamy KW - selection AU - Hughes, WO AU - Oldroyd, BP AU - Beekman, M AU - Ratnieks, FL PY - 2008/05/30/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1156108 ER -