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| | Stranger Fruit: Superfetation in cute, cuddly, badgers |
 | | The authors argue that conception during pregnancy, known as superfetation, benefits female reproductive fitness by reducing the risk of infanticide, extending the female's window of opportunity for conception, and increasing the genetic diversity of the litter. |
 | | Detailed understanding of female receptivity, specifically the association of superfetation with embryonic diapause, may explain field observations of seemingly inconsistent reproductive tactics of male badgers with regard to, for instance, whether or not they guard mates or defend territories. |
 | | The combination of embryonic diapause and superfetation may occur in other mustelids; if so, the sociobiology of mustelids will need re-evaluating, and the Mustelidae may prove to be a good model taxon for studies of sexual conflict in the reproduction of eutherian mammals. |
| scienceblogs.com /strangerfruit/2006/03/superfetation_in_cute_cuddly_b.php (803 words) |
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