Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Infanticide is observed to be the major cause of mortality in various mammals. Polyandry is thought to evolve from their offspring's vulnerability to infanticide. [31] There is evidence that polyandry is an effective strategy that is adapted by many to increase their offspring survival through the avoidance of male infanticide.
Polyandry (/ ˈ p ɒ l i ˌ æ n d r i, ˌ p ɒ l i ˈ æ n-/; from Ancient Greek πολύ (polú) 'many' and ἀνήρ (anḗr) 'man') is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females.
A mating system is a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behaviour. The precise meaning depends upon the context. With respect to animals, the term describes which males and females mate under which circumstances.
The authors found that polyandry was most common in egalitarian societies, and suspected contributors to polyandry included fewer men (due to the existence or threat of high adult male mortality or absence/travel) and higher male contributions towards food production. [6] Polyandry still appears to occur in the minority of societies.
Polygyny (/ p ə ˈ l ɪ dʒ ɪ n i /; from Neo-Greek πολυγυνία, from πολύ-(polú-) 'many' and γυνή (gunḗ) 'woman, wife') [1] is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
Polygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season. [1] In sexually reproducing diploid animals, different mating strategies are employed by males and females, because the cost of gamete production is lower for males than it is for females. [2]
Genetic incompatibility describes the process by which mating yields offspring that are nonviable, prone to disease, or genetically defective in some way. In nature, animals can ill afford to devote costly resources for little or no reward, ergo, mating strategies have evolved to allow females to choose or otherwise determine mates which are more likely to result in viable offspring.
Polyandry in fishes is a mating system where females mate with multiple males within one mating season. [1] This type of mating exists in a variety of animal species. [ 1 ] Polyandry has been found in both oviparous and viviparous bony fishes and sharks . [ 2 ]