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Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Ross, CT; Hooper, PL; Smith, JE; Jaeggi, AV; Smith, EA; Gavrilets, S; Zohora, FT; Ziker, J; Xygalatas, D; Wroblewski, EE; Wood, B; Willard, AK ...
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
May 2023
Published version (DOI)

To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women's fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species-including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms.

Duke Scholars

Anne Pusey
Author Anne Pusey Evolutionary Anthropology
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Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2220124120

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

May 2023

Volume

120

Issue

22

Start / End Page

e2220124120

Related Subject Headings

  • Sexual Behavior, Animal
  • Sex Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Marriage
  • Mammals
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Animals
 

Citation

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Ross, C. T., Hooper, P. L., Smith, J. E., Jaeggi, A. V., Smith, E. A., Gavrilets, S., … Mulder, M. B. (2023). Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(22), e2220124120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220124120
Ross, Cody T., Paul L. Hooper, Jennifer E. Smith, Adrian V. Jaeggi, Eric Alden Smith, Sergey Gavrilets, Fatema Tuz Zohora, et al. “Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120, no. 22 (May 2023): e2220124120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220124120.
Ross CT, Hooper PL, Smith JE, Jaeggi AV, Smith EA, Gavrilets S, et al. Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2023 May;120(22):e2220124120.
Ross, Cody T., et al. “Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 120, no. 22, May 2023, p. e2220124120. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.2220124120.
Ross CT, Hooper PL, Smith JE, Jaeggi AV, Smith EA, Gavrilets S, Zohora FT, Ziker J, Xygalatas D, Wroblewski EE, Wood B, Winterhalder B, Willführ KP, Willard AK, Walker K, von Rueden C, Voland E, Valeggia C, Vaitla B, Urlacher S, Towner M, Sum C-Y, Sugiyama LS, Strier KB, Starkweather K, Major-Smith D, Shenk M, Sear R, Seabright E, Schacht R, Scelza B, Scaggs S, Salerno J, Revilla-Minaya C, Redhead D, Pusey A, Purzycki BG, Power EA, Pisor A, Pettay J, Perry S, Page AE, Pacheco-Cobos L, Oths K, Oh S-Y, Nolin D, Nettle D, Moya C, Migliano AB, Mertens KJ, McNamara RA, McElreath R, Mattison S, Massengill E, Marlowe F, Madimenos F, Macfarlan S, Lummaa V, Lizarralde R, Liu R, Liebert MA, Lew-Levy S, Leslie P, Lanning J, Kramer K, Koster J, Kaplan HS, Jamsranjav B, Hurtado AM, Hill K, Hewlett B, Helle S, Headland T, Headland J, Gurven M, Grimalda G, Greaves R, Golden CD, Godoy I, Gibson M, Mouden CE, Dyble M, Draper P, Downey S, DeMarco AL, Davis HE, Crabtree S, Cortez C, Colleran H, Cohen E, Clark G, Clark J, Caudell MA, Carminito CE, Bunce J, Boyette A, Bowles S, Blumenfield T, Beheim B, Beckerman S, Atkinson Q, Apicella C, Alam N, Mulder MB. Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2023 May;120(22):e2220124120.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2220124120

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

May 2023

Volume

120

Issue

22

Start / End Page

e2220124120

Related Subject Headings

  • Sexual Behavior, Animal
  • Sex Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Marriage
  • Mammals
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Animals