Variation in genetic identity within kinships

Abstract

Genetic identity, which may be important for kin recognition, is the fraction of the genome that is identical by descent. It is, except for the parent-offspring relation, governed by probability and its variance depends on the number of segregating units during meiosis. Using the recombination index as an approximation of this number the variance for genetic identity has been estimated for different kinds of kinship. © The Genetical Society of Great Britain.