Parental care results in a greater mutation load, for which it is also a phenotypic antidote.

Abstract excerpt

Benevolent social behaviours, such as parental care, are thought to enable mildly deleterious mutations to persist. We tested this prediction experimentally using the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, an insect with biparental care. For 20 generations, we allowed replicate experimental burying beetle populations to evolve either with post-hatching care ('Full Care' populations) or without it ('No Care'...

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