United kingdom Daily news: Can't they just compare the meerkat? Animals at risk of dying out because of inbreeding

Can't they just compare the meerkat? Animals at risk of dying out because of inbreeding

20-year-study of more than 2,000 meerkats
44% of pups are inbred - lighter and less likely to survive
Meerkats never inbreed with direct relatives, but with 'cousins' and other more distant family members

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 03:32 EST, 28 May 2012 | UPDATED: 10:19 EST, 28 May 2012

Meerkats were a much-loved creature long before the adverts in which an aristocratic Russian animal complains about lack of traffic to his website 'Compare the Meerkat.'

But it seems the inquisitive creatures have trouble comparing themselves.

The animals live in large social groups or â€˜clans' - and a study of meerkats in the wild has found that almost half are affected by inbreeding, impacting upon their chances of survival.

A new study of meerkats in the wild has found that almost half are affected by inbreeding, impacting upon their chances of survival

The University of Edinburgh said researchers examined data from almost 2,000 meerkats in groups at the Kuruman River Reserve in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa.

Working with scientists from the universities of Cambridge and Zurich and the Zoological Society of London, their 20-year study recorded births and deaths and the movement of meerkats between colonies.

Newborn pups were weighed and measured, their DNA was analysed and their parentage determined.

The researcher teams found that 44% of the meerkats studied showed some evidence of inbreeding, and pups that were inbred were smaller, lighter and less likely to survive than their counterparts.

In the wild, the furry desert animals live in groups of up to 50 individuals, where subordinate adults help parents care for their offspring.

The researcher teams found that 44% of the meerkats studied showed some evidence of inbreeding, and pups that were inbred were smaller, lighter and less likely to survive than their counterparts

The scientists' work showed that closely related meerkats never breed with each other, but that inbreeding occurred between more distantly related individuals who were unfamiliar with one another, perhaps because they lived in separate groups.

Edinburgh University said the research raises questions about whether other social mammals, such as other mongeese, prairie dogs and tamarin monkeys, are similarly affected by inbreeding.

The study, supported by the Natural Environment Research Council, has been published in the journal Molecular Ecology.