Definitions
Paternity certainty refers to the degree to which a male is certain that his partner’s offspring is genetically his own. Alternatively, paternity uncertainty is the degree to which a male is uncertain that his partner’s offspring is genetically his own. Cuckoldry occurs when a male invests in offspring that are not genetically his own.
Introduction
Paternity certainty is a concern primarily for males of species in which females gestate offspring. Whereas females are certain of maternity, males risk the costs of cuckoldry – investing in offspring to whom they are not genetically related. Males are more likely to invest in a partner and offspring when paternity certainty is higher (Propkop et al. 2010). Contrarily, males are more likely to abandon a partner and offspring or to invest less in them when paternity uncertainty is higher (Buss and Abrams 2017; Graham-Kevan and Archer 2011; Pagel 1997). A male’s paternity certainty thus has implications...
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Schepke, R., Shackelford, T.K. (2021). Paternity Certainty. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_2028-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_2028-1
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