Genetic‐genealogy approach reveals low rate of extrapair paternity in historical Dutch populations
Abstract
Objective
Evolutionary theory has shown that seeking out extrapair paternity (EPP) can be a viable reproductive strategy for both sexes in pair‐bonded species, also in humans. As yet, estimates of the contemporary or historical EPP rate in human population are still rare. In the present study, we estimated the historical EPP rate in the Dutch population over the last 400 years and compared the rate with those obtained for other human populations to determine the evolutionary, cultural, and socio‐demographic factors that influence human cuckoldry behavior.
Methods
We estimated the historical EPP rate for the Dutch population via the “genealogical pair method”, in which the EPP rate is derived from Y‐chromosome mismatches between pairs of individuals that, based on genealogical evidence, share a common paternal ancestor.
Results
Based on the analysis of 68 representative genealogical pairs, separated by a total of 1013 fertilization events, we estimated that the historical EPP rate for the Dutch population over the last 400 years was 0.96% per generation (95% confidence interval 0.46%‐1.76%).
Conclusion
The Dutch EPP rate fits perfectly within the range reported for other contemporary and historical populations in Western Europe and was highly congruent with that estimated for neighboring Flanders, despite the socio‐economic and religious differences between both populations. The estimated low EPP rate challenges the “dual mating strategy hypothesis” that states that women could obtain fitness benefits by securing investment from one man while cuckolding him to obtain good genes from an affair partner.
Number of times cited: 2
- Maarten H. D. Larmuseau and Claudio Ottoni, Mediterranean Y-chromosome 2.0—why the Y in the Mediterranean is still relevant in the postgenomic era, Annals of Human Biology, 45, 1, (20), (2018).
- R. Robin Baker and Todd K. Shackelford, A comparison of paternity data and relative testes size as measures of level of sperm competition in the Hominoidea, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, , (2017).
