Francis Mwanguhya

Banded mongooses discriminate relatedness and MHC diversity in unfamiliar conspecifics

This study shows banded mongooses use odor cues to assess MHC diversity and genetic relatedness in unfamiliar conspecifics, showing more interest in less MHC diverse and less related individuals.

Collective Self-Assessment in Banded Mongoose Intergroup Contests

This study finds that banded mongoose groups use collective self-assessment rather than mutual assessment during intergroup contests, escalating conflicts based on their own group strength.

A landscape of intergroup conflict shapes den site choice in banded mongooses

This study shows that banded mongooses choose den sites based on the potential risks and rewards of intergroup conflict, with non-babysitting groups taking greater risks by denning near rival territories.

Sex-dependent influence of major histocompatibility complex diversity on fitness in a social mammal

The paper examines how MHC diversity affects fitness differently in male and female banded mongooses, finding higher diversity increases male fitness but decreases female fitness.

Fitness incentives to male fighters undermine fighting performance in intergroup contests

The paper examines how personal fitness incentives in wild banded mongooses affect intergroup conflict outcomes, finding that winning fights does not always translate to higher paternity success.

Characterization of both major histocompatibility complex classes in a wild social mammal: the banded mongoose

This study characterizes MHC class I and II diversity in banded mongooses using high-throughput sequencing, finding higher allelic diversity in MHC-I and evidence of selection acting differently on exons 2 and 3.