Monogamy May Have Evolved To Prevent Infanticide 256
sciencehabit writes "Human males and females have a strong tendency to live together in monogamous pairs, albeit for highly varied periods of time and degrees of fidelity. Just how such behavior arose has been the topic of much debate among researchers. A new study comes to a startling conclusion: Among primates, including perhaps humans, monogamy evolved because it protected infants from being killed by rival males."
Re:But that doesn't explain (Score:5, Informative)
Clearly you didn't read the article. The very study linked in the summary specifically compared 230 primate species, some of which are socially monogamous and some of which are not. And it explains why it *hasn't* evolved among all of the fairly similar species in the study using a model based on the infanticide rate.
There are almost certainly things to be picked apart in the study, but you need to understand the basic premise before you can start on that track.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Monogamy Means More Babies (Score:2, Informative)
It takes a female chimpanzee 4 to 5 years to teach her offspring enough to survive. During that time, she does not come into heat. Humans, on the other hand, can have babies about once a year. A single female could not raise them all on her own without some help. Today, we call that helper a husband and father. Monogamy means more babies.
That's not what they said about Welfare Queens.
Re:But that doesn't explain (Score:4, Informative)
No, it did not say that other species practiced infanticide. It said that infanticide was much more detrimental to us (and what had evolved into us) due to the extended period of helplessness during infancy. Infanticide was much too expensive for us than it is for lions and such.
Re:Monogamy Means More Babies (Score:5, Informative)
Humans, on the other hand, can have babies about once a year.
Women who nurse exclusively on average do not get their periods for 14-15 months after childbirth. Some get it right away, some go 2-3 years, but 13-16 months is the average, if they are nursing.
Re:Think of the Children (Score:4, Informative)
Pedophilia [wikipedia.org] is a sexual interest in prepubescent children, as in they can not possibly get pregnant. You are talking about something very different.