👉 In genetics and evolutionary biology, a "birthmate" refers to an organism that is genetically related but not necessarily identical. In other words, they share some traits (such as being mammals) but are distinct from each other in many others (such as different populations of animals). Birthmates can be either closely related or distant relatives, depending on the genetic distance between them. Birthmates can be found in a variety of biological contexts, such as within a species, across multiple species, and even within