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Was monogamy a key step on the hominin road? reevaluating the monogamy hypothesis in the evolution of cooperative breeding
Author(s) -
Kramer Karen L.,
Russell Andrew F.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
evolutionary anthropology: issues, news, and reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.401
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1520-6505
pISSN - 1060-1538
DOI - 10.1002/evan.21445
Subject(s) - evolutionary biology , biology , phylogenetic tree , key (lock) , human evolution , cooperative breeding , variety (cybernetics) , biological evolution , ecology , genetics , computer science , artificial intelligence , gene
Because human mothers routinely rely on others to help raise their young, humans have been characterized as cooperative breeders. 1–9 Several large‐scale phylogenetic analyses have presented compelling evidence that monogamy preceded the evolution of cooperative breeding in a wide variety of nonhuman animals. 10–14 These studies have suggested that monogamy provides a general rule (the monogamy hypothesis) for explaining evolutionary transitions to cooperative breeding. 15 Given the prevalence of cooperative breeding in contemporary human societies, we evaluate whether this suggests a monogamous hominin past.