26 October 2013

Cuckolded fathers rare; equally rare in the past

An article in The Economist  reports on a study showing "only 1-3% of children are cuckoos in the nest." It's based on Western European populations.
At 1% it would mean a 10% chance of a break in the genetic chain in 10 generations, and a 26% chance at 3%.
The Economist piece is based on an article in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, abstract here.

1 comment:

  1. None of us can be 100% sure of our genetic line as only one person truly knows who the father of her child is. I wonder how many mothers have kept their mouths well and truly zipped after just once,straying from the strait and narrow.

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