CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 39Animal Behavior and ReproductionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Genetic Monogamy in Socially Monogamous Mammals Is Primarily Predicted by Multiple Life History Factors: A Meta-Analysis

Open access
Lambert, Connor T., Sabol, Anne C., Solomon, Nancy G.·2018·Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
DOI 10.3389/fevo.2018.00139
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background We still do not understand the key drivers or prevalence of genetic monogamy in mammals despite the amount of attention that the evolution of mammalian monogamy has received. There have been numerous reviews of the hypotheses proposed to explain monogamy, some of which focused on animals in general, while others focused on particular classes like birds or mammals, or on specific orders within a class. Because monogamy is rare in mammals overall but relatively common in some of the orders in which it has been observed (e.g., Primates, Macroscelidea and Carnivora), mammals provide a unique taxon in which to study the evolution and maintenance of monogamy However, the term ‘monogamy’ encompasses related but separate phenomena; i.e., social monogamy (pair-living by opposite-sex conspecifics) and genetic monogamy or reproductive monogamy (mating exclusivity). A recent review of mammalian monogamy reported that 226 species (9%) in 9 orders (35%) were socially monogamous, although socially monogamous mammals are not necessarily genetically monogamous. Methods Since factors that predispose socially monogamous mammals to be genetically monogamous are still subject to debate, we conducted meta-analyses using model selection to determine the relative importance of several life history, demographic and environmental factors in predicting genetic monogamy. Results We found sufficient data to include 41 species in our analysis, about 2x more than have been included in previous analyses of mammalian genetic monogamy. We found that living as part of a socially monogamous pair versus in a group was the best predictor of genetic monogamy, either by itself or in combination with high levels of paternal care. A male-biased sex ratio and low population density were inversely related to the number of pairs that were genetically monogamous, but not to the production of intra-pair young or litters. Conclusion Our results agree with the results of some previous analyses but suggest that more than one factor may be important in driving genetic monogamy in mammals.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fevo.2018.00139

Cites

97 of 97 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Approximately 9% of mammals are socially monogamous, and pair bonding is often accompanied by shared territory, preferential mating, and affiliative displays between partners.

    “Approximately 9% of mammals are socially monogamous, and pair bonding is often accompanied by shared territory, preferential mating, and affiliative displays between partners [4,11].”

    From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [11]

    The Abstract reports that 226 mammalian species (9%) are socially monogamous. The Introduction describes pair-bonding as associated with social monogamy and males sharing a home range with one female, but the cited passages do not establish preferential mating or affiliative displays between partners. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Increased paternal care is positively related to genetic monogamy, with 56% of the 226 recorded socially monogamous mammal species displaying paternal behavior.

    “Increased paternal care is positively related to genetic monogamy, with 56% of the 226 recorded socially monogamous mammal species displaying paternal behavior, suggesting that male engagement in parental behavior is favored when there is increased certainty in the paternity of offspring [11].”

    From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [11]

    The Summary of Main Findings reports that higher paternal care was associated with greater genetic monogamy and suggests that males may have been favored to provide care when paternity was certain. However, the Search Strategy lists 238 socially monogamous mammal species, and the Study Selection and Characteristics reports genetic data for 41; our copy does not support the claim that 56% of 226 species displayed paternal behavior. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Lambert, C. T., Sabol, A. C., & Solomon, N. G.
Affiliations
  • Miami University (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
Corresponding author
Solomon, Nancy G.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2018-09-19
Volume
6
ISSN
2296-701X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fevo.2018.00139
OpenAlex
W2890134964
Cited by
39
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4
FWCI
0.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (1R15HD075222-01A1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
genetic monogamy, social monogamy, life-history traits, paternal care, male-biased sex ratio, population density, pair-living

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review