一项研究发现，遗传和社会因素相互作用影响野生宽吻海豚的生殖成功。长久以来人们知道自然和营养在影响动物的生殖健康方面的作用。然而，人们几乎不知道基因和社会因素的相互作用如何驱动着野生种群的健康，这部分是由于很难收集数据，以及缺乏梳理出此现象中的具体因素的技术。

为了帮助填补这种信息空白，C. H. Frère及其同事采用了统计模型分析了西澳大利亚鲨鱼湾的52只雌性宽吻海豚的20年的生命史数据。这组作者发现，这些海豚的生殖成功——它们具有显着的认知能力以及一个复杂的社会系统——取决于其亲属以及偏爱的伙伴的生殖成功。基因和社会因素之间的这种相互作用的效果并非仅仅是加法，而是乘法。此外，这组作者发现有遗传亲缘关系的雌性并不总是相互结伴，而且与近亲结伴也并不总是导致生殖成功率高。

这组作者说，这些发现表明相互作用的遗传和社会因素影响了一个野生种群的生殖健康。

英文摘要：

PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1007997107

Social and genetic interactions drive fitness variation in a free-living dolphin population
Celine H. Frèrea,1, Michael Krützena,b, Janet Manna,c, Richard C. Connora,d, Lars Bejdera,e, and William B. Sherwina

aSchool of Biological Earth and Ecological Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia;
bAnthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland;
cDepartments of Biology and Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057-1229;
dDepartment of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA 02747; and
eCentre for Fish and Fisheries Research, Cetacean Research Unit, Murdoch University, Murdoch 6150, Western Australia

The evolutionary forces that drive fitness variation in species are of considerable interest. Despite this, the relative importance and interactions of genetic and social factors involved in the evolution of fitness traits in wild mammalian populations are largely unknown. To date, a few studies have demonstrated that fitness might be influenced by either social factors or genes in natural populations, but none have explored how the combined effect of social and genetic parameters might interact to influence fitness. Drawing from a long-term study of wild bottlenose dolphins in the eastern gulf of Shark Bay, Western Australia, we present a unique approach to understanding these interactions. Our study shows that female calving success depends on both genetic inheritance and social bonds. Moreover, we demonstrate that interactions between social and genetic factors also influence female fitness. Therefore, our study represents a major methodological advance, and provides critical insights into the interplay of genetic and social parameters of fitness.