Monogamy : mating strategies and partnerships in birds, humans, and other mammals / edited by Ulrich H. Reichard, Christophe Boesch. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2003. - 1 online resource (ix, 267 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Monogamy : past and present / Evolution of monogamy : mating relationships, parental care and sexual selection / Mate guarding and the evolution of social monogamy in mammals / Evolution of social monogomy in primates / Evolution of social and reproductive monogamy in Peromyscus : evidence from Peromyscus californicus (the California mouse) / Social functions of copulation in the socially monogamous razorbill (Alca torda) / Social and reproductive monogamy in rodents : the case of the Malagasy giant jumping rat (Hypogeomys antimena) / Social polyandry and promiscuous mating in a primate-like carnivore : the kinkajou (Potos flavus) / Monogamy correlates, socioecological factors, and mating systems in beavers / Social monogamy and social polygyny in a solitary ungulate, the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) / Ecological and social complexities in human monogamy / Social monogamy in a human society : marriage and reproductive success among the Dogon / Social monogamy in gibbons : the male perspective / Pair living and mating strategies in the fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius) / Social monogamy and its variations in callitrichids : do these relate to the costs of infant care? / Monogamy in New World primates : what can patterns of olfactory communication tell us? / Ulrich H. Reichard -- Anders Pape Møller -- Peter N.M. Brotherton & Petr E. Komers -- Carel P. van Schaik & Peter M. Kappeler -- David O. Ribble -- Richard H. Wagner -- Simone Sommer -- Roland Kays -- Lixing Sun -- Ryosuke Kishimoto -- Bobbi S. Low -- Beverly I. Strassmann -- Ulrich H. Reichard -- Joanna Fietz -- Anne W. Goldizen -- Eckhard W. Heymann.

Why do males of some species live with a single mate when they are capable of fertilizing more than one female's eggs? Why do some females pair only with one male, and not with several partners? Why do birds usually live in pairs and feed chicks together whilst mammals often live in larger groups with females rearing their young without male help? These questions form the central theme of this book. Social monogamy is a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that does not always correspond with reproductive monogamy, so a paired male may not necessarily be raising his own offspring. Exploring the variables influencing and maintaining the fascinating diversity of social, sexual and reproductive monogamous partnerships in birds, mammals and humans, this book provides clues to the biological roots of monogamy for students and researchers in behavioural ecology, evolutionary anthropology, primatology, zoology and ornithology.

9781139087247 (ebook)


Sexual behavior in animals.
Sex customs.
Psychology, Comparative.
Mammals--Behavior.
Birds--Behavior.

QL761 / .M65 2003

591.56/2