Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in vertebrates are integral for effective adaptive immune response and are associated with sexual selection. Evidence from a range of vertebrates supports MHC-based preference for diverse and dissimilar mating partners, but evidence from human mate choice studies has been disparate and controversial. Methodologies and sampling peculiarities specific to human studies make it difficult to know whether wide discrepancies in results among human populations are real or artefact. To better understand what processes may affect MHC-mediated mate choice across humans and nonhuman primates, we performed phylogenetically controlled meta-analyses using 58 effect sizes from 30 studies across seven primate species. Primates showed a general trend favouring more MHC-diverse mates, which was statistically significant for humans. In contrast, there was no tendency for MHC-dissimilar mate choice, and for humans, we observed effect sizes indicating selection of both MHC-dissimilar and MHC-similar mates. Focusing on MHC-similar effect sizes only, we found evidence that preference for MHC similarity was an artefact of population ethnic heterogeneity in observational studies but not among experimental studies with more control over sociocultural biases. This suggests that human assortative mating biases may be responsible for some patterns of MHC-based mate choice. Additionally, the overall effect sizes of primate MHC-based mating preferences are relatively weak (Fisher's Z correlation coefficient for dissimilarity Zr = 0.044, diversity Zr = 0.153), calling for careful sampling design in future studies. Overall, our results indicate that preference for more MHC-diverse mates is significant for humans and likely conserved across primates.

CEFE UMR5175 CNRS Université de Montpellier EPHE 1919 Route de Mende 34295 Montpellier Cedex 5 France

Department of Evolutionary Ecology Estación Biológica de Doñana CSIC c Americo Vespucio s n 41092 Seville Spain

Department of Evolutionary Ecology Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology August Thienemann Strasse 2 24306 Ploen Germany

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 128 44 Prague 2 Czech Republic

INRA UMR 1062 CBGP 755 Avenue du campus Agropolis 34988 Montferrier sur Lez France

Institute of Botany Czech Academy of Sciences v v i Lidická 25 27 657 20 Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Balterstrasse 6 3006 Bern Switzerland

Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences v v i Květná 8 603 65 Brno Czech Republic

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