Kin selection and the ecology of kin biased behaviour

• Applicant: Dr. Timo Thünken
• Subject Area: Sensory and Behavioural Biology
• Term: from 2011 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 193915887

Inclusive fitness theory, also termed kin selection theory, provides a general framework for the study of social behaviour predicting that differential treatment of kin, i.e. kin bias, can increase the inclusive fitness of an actor. However, ecological constraints like competition between kin are predicted to strongly affect kin selected benefits and, thus, the strength and direction of kin bias. Furthermore, inclusive fitness benefits might emerge in contexts where they are usually ignored like sexual selection. These theoretical predictions which are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the operation of kin selection have received little empirical attention.The aim is to examine kin biased behaviour and its consequences in different contexts ranging from cooperation during juvenile grouping over intra-sexual competition and mate choice to biparental brood care in the socially monogamous cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus, which is capable of kin recognition and shows kin mating preferences. Behavioural experiments, molecular markers and morphometric methods will be combined. Particularly, I will focus on the impact of kin competition on kin biased behaviour. Further, the unusual mating preferences in this species provide a unique opportunity to examine the ecological requirements for the evolution of kin bias in mate choice and how inbreeding influences the evolution of cooperation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants