It often assumed that the quality of a potential mate in terms of how their genes affect their offspring quality is a fixed feature of each individual.
However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this is not always the case, and that mates may vary in compatibility more than in quality. We fertilised separate batches of eggs from female sea lampreys (a parasitic fish) with sperm from several different males.
This revealed that the viability of offspring was mainly dependent on how compatible partners were. For female lampreys, there are no good or bad males, but there are better halves.
Royal Society Journal Biology Letters
Biology Letters publishes short, innovative and cutting-edge research articles and opinion pieces accessible to scientists from across the biological sciences. The journal is characterised by stringent peer-review, rapid publication and broad dissemination of succinct high-quality research communications.
Biology Letters
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