On the Evolution of Mating Systems in Birds and Mammals

Orians, Gordon H.

doi:10.1086/282628

Cited by 1,360 publications

(635 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In most mammals, virtually all parental investment is done by females and all mating effort by males, resulting in more notable sex differences than in other taxa (Clutton-Brock 1989, Orians 1969). The few exceptions are in species in which roles may be partially mixed and the sexes have less notable differences, and which more often have mating systems characterized as monogamous (Jarman 1983, Plavcan 2001.…”

Section: Biological Theories About Human Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Early Development of Gender Differences

McIntyre

Edwards

2009

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

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This article reviews findings from anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines about the role of biological factors in the development of sex differences in human behavior, including biological theories, the developmental course of sex differences, and the interaction of biological and cultural gendering processes at different ages. Current evidence suggests that major biological influences on individual differences in human gender, to the extent that they exist, operate primarily in early development, during and especially prior to puberty. Biological effects are likely to be mediated by relatively simple processes, like temperament, which are then elaborated through social interactions (as with mother and peers) into more complex gendered features of adult personality. Biological anthropologists and psychologists interested in gender should direct more attention to understanding how social processes influence the development and function of the reproductive endocrine system.

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Section: Biological Theories About Human Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Early Development of Gender Differences

McIntyre

Edwards

2009

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

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“…In the context of reproduction, for example, monogamous cooperation between a male and a female can be obligate when the presence of both males and females is necessary for the survival of offspring, i.e., when males cannot benefit from pursuing additional females (Emlen and Oring, 1977). Another possibility is for both males and females to have the option of choosing between reproducing by means of monogamy or polygyny, depending on factors that influence the ability of females to raise young on their own (Emlen and Oring, 1977;Orians, 1969). In the context of predation as well, there can also be the option of hunting alone or in a group, as in lions (Packer et al, 1990).…”

Section: Choosing Between Cooperation and Non-cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why cooperate?An economic perspective is not enough

Schuster

2004

Behavioural Processes

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Cooperation is usually explained from an economic perspective focused mainly on the tangible outcomes received by individuals that are also dependent on the behavior of others, with little reference to the actual behaviors used when cooperating. The potential consequences of social dimensions associated with cooperative behaviors are minimized in Skinnerian and game-theory models by means of anonymous subjects that behave individually while physically isolated in separate chambers. When cooperation and non-cooperation occur in the real world, however, they are often associated not only with different outcomes but also with different behaviors. Unlike non-cooperation, cooperative behaviors are usually intrinsically social, influenced by the presence and behaviors of familiar partners. Research is described that addresses whether the social dimensions of cooperative actions go beyond mere description of behaviors to also explain why cooperation occurs. One way to resolve the relative importance of economic and social factors for explanations of cooperation is to measure choice between the options of cooperation and non-cooperation. The economic perspective, linked to models derived from game theory, frames the question as a choice determined by differences in tangible outcomes such as food or money that, in evolutionary terms, are surrogates for gains in fitness. From a behavioral perspective, the choice between cooperation and non-cooperation is also determined by social dimensions associated only with cooperation. The influence of social cooperation on preference was examined by means of two rectangular chambers interconnected by a T-maze. In one chamber, pairs of laboratory rats were reinforced with saccharine solution for coordinating back-and-forth shuttling; in the second chamber, a single animal was reinforced for back-and-forth shuttling performed in isolation. With outcomes equalized between the two options, cooperation was preferred by the majority of subjects. Moreover, variation in the relative rate of reinforcement during cooperation was not a strong predictor of choice whereas the level of intra-pair coordination was positively related to preference. Implications of this result are discussed for both method and theory, including the hypothesis that the preference is influenced by intrinsic reinforcements evoked by cooperating. The consequences for evolutionary fitness would then arise not only from tangible outcomes but from the relationships that develop when cooperating even when immediate and tangible pay-offs are absent, insufficient or sub-optimal. The impact of cooperative relationships on fitness may therefore not occur immediately but in the future, and perhaps in another context, when they influence outcomes that have a significant impact on survival and reproduction.

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“…From an evolutionary point of view, polygyny is not necessarily expected to be costly for women. The polygyny threshold model predicts that women (or their families) will choose husbands based on the resources that will be available to the woman during her marriage (Orians, 1969;Borgerhoff Mulder, 1990). Wealthy men become polygynous because they can provide each of multiple wives with a similar amount of resources to those that a poorer man can offer a single wife.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of kin on female fertility in rural Gambia

Sear

Mace

McGregor

2003

Evolution and Human Behavior

116

126

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This is an electronic version of an Article published in Evolution and AbstractHuman females reproduce relatively rapidly throughout their reproductive years compared to the other great apes. It has been suggested that women are able to sustain this rapid pace by co-opting family members to help raise their children. We tested the hypothesis that the presence of kin will increase the reproductive rates of women using a longitudinal database collected from rural Gambia. We found that both the husband's mother and, to a lesser extent, the husband's father increased the probability that a woman would give birth. A woman's parents, however, had no effect on her fertility rate, nor did her elder sisters or co-wives. The presence of a woman's elder brothers even decreased her probability of giving birth. There was no evidence that elder children acted as 'helpers at the nest', as the existence of living elder children slowed down rather than increased birth rates. We suggest that the increased fertility in the presence of mothers-in-law may be due to these women helping out their daughters-in-law with domestic and subsistence duties. Given that it is paternal, rather than maternal, relatives who increase fertility, social pressures on women from older kin to bear many children may also be important.

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On the Evolution of Mating Systems in Birds and Mammals

Cited by 1,360 publications

References 15 publications

The Early Development of Gender Differences

The Early Development of Gender Differences

Why cooperate?An economic perspective is not enough

The effects of kin on female fertility in rural Gambia

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