Genetic analysis provides insight into the mating system of <em>Meleagris gallopavo</em> (wild turkey) and reveals frequent extra-pair paternity

Lekking is a polygynous mating strategy where males gather on communal display grounds to attract females, who primarily visit these sites to mate. Females at leks are considered free to choose their mates, and only a few dominant males are expected to obtain most mating opportunities. The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo spp.) is a widely distributed, ground nesting, uniparental galliform that exhibits a polygynous mating strategy, but aspects of the species’ mating system are poorly understood. Our objective was to describe the mating system for eastern wild turkeys (M. g. sylvestris) using DNA extracted from eggshell membranes obtained from hatched clutches. We identified 307 offspring across 34 nests, assigned parentage, and examined sibling relationships among offspring. Our findings revealed that 19 (56 %) nests had a single mother and father, whereas we detected multiple paternity in 15 (44 %) nests. Additionally, we found that intraspecific nest parasitism occurred in 2.94 % of ..., , # Data from: Genetic analysis provides insight into the mating system of *Meleagris gallopavo* (wild turkey) and reveals frequent extra-pair paternity Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.9ghx3ffx2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9ghx3ffx2) ## Description of the data and file structure Genotypes of females, males, and offspring for input into Program COLONY. ### Files and variables #### File: MarkerTypeErrorRate.txt **Description:** Input for program COLONY, marker error rate #### File: SRS_EWT_Genotypes_mind25geno10maf20_Eggshells_ColonyInput.txt **Description:** Input for offspring for program COLONY, 328 individuals and 259 variants ##### Variables: First Column: Individual ID #### File: SRS_EWT_Genotypes_mind25geno10maf20_Females_ColonyInput.txt **Description:** Input for mothers for program COLONY, 117 individuals and 259 variants #### File: SRS_EWT_Genotypes_mind25geno10maf20_Males_ColonyInput.txt **Description:** Input for fathers for COLONY, 90 individuals and 259 va...,