Human origins and the transition from promiscuity to pair-bonding.

ABSTRACT: A crucial step in recent theories of human origins is the emergence of strong pair-bonding between males and females accompanied by a dramatic reduction in the male-to-male conflict over mating and an increased investment in offspring. How such a transition from promiscuity to pair-bonding could be achieved is puzzling. Many species would, indeed, be much better off evolutionarily if the effort spent on male competition over mating was redirected to increasing female fertility or survivorship of offspring. Males, however, are locked in a "social dilemma," where shifting one's effort from "appropriation" to "production" would give an advantage to free-riding competitors and therefore, should not happen. Here, I first consider simple models for four prominent scenarios of the human transitio

SUBMITTER: Gavrilets S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3382477 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature