Multiple paternity behavior (MP) has been recorded for seven elasmobranch orders. It remains unclear how this common behavior evolved and whether it occurs in all elasmobranchs or in certain lineages. Although MP may provide genetic benefits, elasmobranchs display an aggressive courtship behavior and females may become severely wounded, making multiple mating costly. Females can perform multiple matings to avoid excessive harassment in males (polyandry by convenience hypothesis). Studies challenge this hypothesis, suggesting that females are often able to avoid mating attempts by inappropriate males and copulate with several potential. In this study, an scientiometric analysis was performed concerning elasmobranch species presenting MP records, to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the complex sexual behavior in this group. The results indicate that MP behavior is widespread in the subclass, suggesting that it may have been originated in the common ancestor of elasmobranchs (plesiomorphic state). The data indicate a knowledge gap regarding the detection of MP in other elasmobranch orders and we suggest that investigative studies on the neglected elasmobranch and chimaera orders are required.

中文翻译：

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elasmobranchs 中的多重父子关系是一种拟形特征吗？

已记录了七个 elasmobranch 订单的多重亲子行为 (MP)。目前尚不清楚这种常见行为是如何进化的，以及它是否发生在所有的韧皮科动物或某些谱系中。尽管 MP 可能提供遗传益处，但弹鳃类动物表现出侵略性的求爱行为，雌性可能会受到严重伤害，从而使多次交配成本高昂。雌性可以进行多次交配以避免对雄性的过度骚扰（基于便利假设的一妻多夫）。研究挑战了这一假设，表明雌性通常能够避免不合适的雄性尝试交配，并与几种潜在的交配。在这项研究中，对呈现 MP 记录的弹鳃物种进行了科学计量分析，以重建该群体复杂性行为的进化历史。结果表明 MP 行为在该子类中广泛存在，表明它可能起源于弹性鳃类的共同祖先（拟态状态）。数据表明在其他 elasmobranch 订单中检测 MP 方面存在知识差距，我们建议需要对被忽视的 elasmobranch 和 chimaera 订单进行调查研究。