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No evidence for extrapair fertilizations in the merlin revealed by DNA fingerprinting
I G Warkentin1, A D Curzon, R E Carter
1Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20008-2598.
Molecular Ecology
|June 1, 1994
Abstract:
Broods of young merlins were compared with the adults in attendance at their nest by DNA fingerprinting. No offspring were found that mismatched genetically suggesting that intraspecific brood parasitism and extrapair fertilization are very rare in this population. The results are discussed in the light of the Paternity Assurance Hypothesis.