Females Choosing Good Providers as Mates Laid Foundation of Monogamous Family Life

A new study looking into the evolution of monogamous family life among humans found that the practice of females choosing a good provider as a mate led to replacement of promiscuity by pair-bonding which was the first step in the emergence of modern family life.

The study helps answer long-standing questions in evolutionary biology about how the modern family, characterized by intense, social attachments with exclusive mates, emerged following earlier times of promiscuity.

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In addition to the establishment of stable, long-lasting relationships, the transition to pair-bonding was also characterized by a reduction in male-to-male competition in favour of providing for females and providing close parental involvement.

The study demonstrates mathematically that the most commonly proposed theories for the transition to human pair-bonding are not biologically feasible.

However, the study advances a new model showing that the transition to pair-bonding can occur when female choice and faithfulness, among other factors, are included.

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The result is an increased emphasis on provisioning females over male competition for mating.

The effect is most pronounced in low-ranked males who have a low chance of winning a mate in competition with a high-ranked male.

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Thus, the low-ranked male attempts to buy mating by providing for the female, which in turn is then reinforced by females who show preference for the low-ranked, "provisioning" male, according to author Sergey Gavrilets, associate director for scientific activities at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis and a professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

"Once females begin to show preference for being provisioned, the low-ranked males' investment in female provisioning over male-to-male competition pays-off," Gavrilets explained.

Gavrilets said that the study's results describe a "sexual revolution" initiated by low-ranking males who began providing in order to get matings.

"Once the process was underway, it led to a kind of self-domestication, resulting in a group-living species of provisioning males and faithful females," he added.

The study reveals that female choice played a crucial role in human evolution and that future studies should include between-individual variation to help explain social dilemmas and behaviors, according to Gavrilets

Source-ANI