Multiple paternities increase genetic diversity of offspring in Brandt's voles

Mating system and philopatry influence the genetic structure of a social group in mammals. Brandt's vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii) lives in social groups year-round and has male biased dispersal, which makes the vole a model system for studies of genetic consequences of mating system and philopatry. This study aimed to test the hypotheses that: (1) multiple paternity (MP) would exist in Brandt's voles, enhance offspring genetic diversity and reduce genetic relatedness between littermates; (2) promiscuity would occur in this species in that males and females mate with multiple partners; and (3) plural breeders of a social group would be genetically related because of philopatry of female juveniles in Brandt's voles. Paternity analysis indicated that MP occurred in 11 (46%) of 24 social groups examined and that promiscuity existed in this species. Multiple paternity litters had twice the offspring genetic diversity and half the average within-litter genetic relatedness of single paternity litters. We also found plural breeding females in six social groups. Average pairwise genetic relatedness of plural breeders ranged from 0.41 to 0.72 in four social groups, suggesting first-order kinship. Future studies need to investigate effects of reproductive skew and MP on population genetic structure of Brandt's voles.