Insights into the range of extra-pair paternity frequencies before and after the demographic transition in Flanders.

When the caring and legal father is not the biological one, a so-called extra-pair paternity (EPP) event occurs. After decades of speculation and many false or highly biased claims, data on EPP frequencies within contemporary human populations became available in the last decade. Although highly relevant for biologists, social scientists and forensic geneticists, EPP frequencies of past populations still remain controversial due to the lack of valid data, available methods and interdisciplinary collaborations. Recently, an innovative pilot study in Flanders was able to calculate past EPP frequencies by comparing Y-chromosomal variation between assumed patrilineally related men. The estimated frequency was a mean value for the population across a timeframe of 400 years which, however, can differ in time (especially expected due to the demographic transition) due to evolutionary, cultural and socio-demographic factors. Therefore, the main aim of this project is to get insights into the range of EPP frequencies in Flanders in the last 400 years and to test several hypotheses from historical demography and socio-biology. This will be realised by optimizing the genetic genealogical approach by implementing novel next-generation sequencing methods to realise the required discrimination power between non-related patrilines. As such, the temporal range of past EPP rates in the Flemish population will be calculated and interpreted in an interdisciplinary way.

Keywords:Genetic genealogy, Forensic genetics, Interdisciplinary, Historical demography, Socio-biology, Next-generation sequencing, Y-chromosome, Extra-pair paternity

Disciplines:Genetics, Systems biology, Molecular and cell biology