Editing Incest (section)

==Animals==
{{see also|Animal sexual behavior#Inbreeding avoidance}}
[[File:Fruit flies mating.jpg|thumb|[[Drosophila melanogaster|Common fruit fly]] females prefer to mate with their own brothers over unrelated males.<ref name="fruit-flies">{{cite journal |last1=Loyau |first1=Adeline |last2=Cornuau |first2=Jérémie H. |last3=Clobert |first3=Jean |last4=Danchin |first4=Étienne |date=10 December 2012 |title=Incestuous Sisters: Mate Preference for Brothers over Unrelated Males in Drosophila melanogaster |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=12 |pages=e51293 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...751293L |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0051293 |pmc=3519633 |pmid=23251487 |doi-access=free}}</ref>]]

Inbreeding avoidance is rare in non-human animals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=de Boer |first1=Raïssa A. |last2=Vega-Trejo |first2=Regina |last3=Kotrschal |first3=Alexander |last4=Fitzpatrick |first4=John L. |date=July 2021 |title=Meta-analytic evidence that animals rarely avoid inbreeding |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01453-9 |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=5 |issue=7 |pages=949–964 |doi=10.1038/s41559-021-01453-9 |pmid=33941905 |bibcode=2021NatEE...5..949D |s2cid=233718913 |issn=2397-334X}}</ref> [[North Carolina State University]] found that [[bed bug]]s, in contrast to most other insects, tolerate incest and are able to genetically withstand the effects of inbreeding quite well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2011/12/insect-incest-produces-healthy-offspring |title=Insect Incest Produces Healthy Offspring |date=8 December 2011 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-date=16 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516080757/http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2011/12/insect-incest-produces-healthy-offspring |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many species of [[mammal]]s, including humanity's closest [[primate]] relatives, tend to avoid mating with close relatives, especially if there are alternative partners available.<ref>{{cite book |title=Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo: The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century |first=Arthur P. |last=Wolf |author2=William H. Durham |year=2004 |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OW1nuQxcIQgC&pg=PA6 |isbn=978-0-8047-5141-4}}</ref> However, some chimpanzees have been recorded attempting to mate with their mothers.<ref>[http://www.livescience.com/2226-incest-taboo-nature.html Incest not so taboo in nature] Livescience, retrieved 29 January 2012</ref> Male rats have been recorded engaging in mating with their sisters, but they tend to prefer non-related females over their sisters.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bsCiWUiPY5UC&pg=PA293 Sexual Behaviour In Animals] A. Sarkar; retrieved 29 January 2012</ref>

[[Livestock]] breeders often practice controlled breeding to eliminate undesirable characteristics within a population, which is also coupled with the [[culling]] of what is considered unfit offspring, especially when trying to establish a new and desirable trait in the stock.