[ELI5] How do animals know not to inbreed?
In: Biology
There have been many studies on [inbreeding avoidance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding_avoidance) in animals. [One study in mice](https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/cp-tgb110207.php) presents evidence that they do it by smelling proteins in the urine of potential mates. Basically they instinctively prefer to breed with mates whose urine smells different from their own.
As u/rslashmiko has pointed out, this type of mechanism doesn’t prevent animals from inbreeding but it apparently makes it less likely where multiple mates are available. It’s easy to imagine that animals would evolve mechanisms like this one since it reduces the chances of genetic defects.
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