Female bats keep it in the family
Female greater horseshoe bats share male mates with their mothers and grandmothers, Nature magazine reports.
This serves to bind families together, but avoids the dangers of inbreeding. The females live together in groups segregated from the opposite sex, but gang together to prowl for males once the mating season arrives. Scientists from the University of Bristol and Queen Mary in London made the discovery using genetic techniques to construct family trees for the bats. Most female greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) seek out the same male to mate with year after year. The bats produce only one offspring each year, so each animal represents the outcome of a separate mating. more
Female greater horseshoe bats share male mates with their mothers and grandmothers, Nature magazine reports.
This serves to bind families together, but avoids the dangers of inbreeding. The females live together in groups segregated from the opposite sex, but gang together to prowl for males once the mating season arrives. Scientists from the University of Bristol and Queen Mary in London made the discovery using genetic techniques to construct family trees for the bats. Most female greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) seek out the same male to mate with year after year. The bats produce only one offspring each year, so each animal represents the outcome of a separate mating. more