Kinship and its consequences in the cooperatively breeding southern pied babbler Turdoides bicolor

Cooperative breeding occurs when more than two individuals help to raise offspring that are not their own, and has been the focus of empirical and theoretical research for over forty years. Of central importance to this work are the fitness costs and benefits of helping, and the factors limiting the reproduction of helpers. To understand these, the genetic relationship between individuals must be known. In this thesis, I use genetic and observational data to explore kinship between individuals in groups of wild Southern Pied Babblers Turdoides bicolor.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Biological Sciences

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Nelson-Flower, Martha J

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• O'Ryan, Colleen

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11665

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11665