promiscuous females
grrlscientist | May 30, 2007tags: cheetahs, evolution
Researchers studied 47 litters of cheetah cubs over nine years. Nearly half contained cubs from multiple fathers.
Image: Sarah Durant [larger]
DNA technology has revealed that female cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, often produce litters that are comprised of cubs sired by multiple fathers. This research, recently published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, studied cheetahs found on that part of the Seregeti in the African nation, Tanzania.
"If the cubs are genetically more variable it may allow them to adapt and evolve to different circumstances," Dada…