Cheater Cheetahs...A story of infidelity and sex!
The female cheetahs that prowl the Serengeti in Tanzania appear to live up to their name, scientists have shown.
DNA analysis of the spotted cats found that they were serial cheaters, with nearly half of their litters made up of cubs from different fathers.
Writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the scientists say the infidelity may expose them to disease. However, it could also ensure the genetic diversity of the endangered species, the researchers hypothesise.
"If the cubs are genetically more variable it may allow them to adapt and evolve to different circumstances," Dada Gottelli of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and one of the scientists on the study told the BBC News website. "If there is a big change in the environment some may be able to cope better."
Excerpted from BBC Science News
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2 comments:
Oh is it!!!
Great blog overall, had a chance to read some of the earlier posts too! - ANup
Yeah, I had seen one show on Discovery which said the same thing. Maybe we should emulate them and claim that we are doing it to ensure the continuity of our species! :D
Ha!
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