What evidence is there that inbreeding is costly in nature?
Very little evidence is available that directly links inbreeding depression to a lack of dispersal in natural populations, but Packer supported anecdotal information on a male baboon that failed to disperse at sexual maturity. He produced low surviving progeny compared to outbred males in the baboon troop. Information on inbreeding depression per se is available for cases in which researchers have pedigrees. There is evidence from sparrows that individuals from consanguinous matings had lower survivorship relative to individuals from non-consanguinous matings during periods of environmental stress: individuals with a higher inbreeding coefficient were more likely to die during times of famine. Outbreeding Depression While consanguinous matings generally result in inbreeding depression, it does not follow that an animal should find a mate that has a completely different genetic background. Outbreeding depression is the tendency to how reduced fitness in progeny that are the product of t
