Detection of multiple paternity in the Kemp's ridley sea turtle with limited sampling

An important question in sea turtle biology is the number of males that con tribute to the fertilization of a clutch of eggs. Previous studies on other sea turtle species have indicated little to no multiple paternity. We conc lude here that female Kemp's ridleys, Lepidochelys kempi, are polyandrous. DNA from 26 mother and offspring groups was analysed at three microsatellit e loci to identify paternal alleles. Three paternal alleles were observed a mong 14 of the clutches; four paternal alleles were observed among the offs pring of an additional female. A maximum likelihood analysis not only rejec ts the model of single paternity, but also rejects the model of equal pater nal contribution to the clutch. By explicitly addressing the high mutation rate of microsatellite markers, our analysis rejected mutation as the sole cause of multiple paternal alleles.