Schuiling G A
Division of Human Biology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen, A Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2003 Mar;24(1):55-61. doi: 10.3109/01674820309042802.
Monogamy--a bond between two partners of opposite sex--is a relatively rare phenomenon in mammals (3-5%, from a total of 4000 mammalian species). The duration of the bond may vary from one breeding period to life-long. Monogamy does not exclude 'genetic promiscuity', i.e., extra-pair mating. In fact, this is rather common. Monogamy is an intrinsically unstable mating strategy. Benefits include the (relative) certainty of access to the partner's reproductive potential, but the chief disadvantage is that access to other potential partners is strongly diminished, particularly in those cases where males exhibit strong mate-guarding behavior. Mate-guarding, in particular the guarding by males of females with a good territory or of females that accept the territory of a male, has been shown to be the most important selective pressure leading to the evolution of monogamy. A monogamic bond strongly favors the evolution of male investment in the raising of offspring, as is the case in most birds (90% of bird species are monogamic and most exhibit biparental care of young). Mammals exhibit this type of behavior to a far lesser extent (female mammals monopolize the feeding of newly born young). Most male mammals do not look after their offspring; humans are an exception in this respect. Like most mammals, humans are not strictly monogamic. A tendency to social monogamy has evolved, however, and is subject to strong reinforcement by cultural factors, particularly religion. As a result, in a number of cultures monogamy is the predominant mating system; however, most cultures (about 85%) are polygamic. For humans, the optimal evolutionary strategy is monogamy when necessary, polygamy when possible.
一夫一妻制——两个异性伴侣之间的结合——在哺乳动物中是一种相对罕见的现象（在总共4000种哺乳动物中占3%-5%）。这种结合的持续时间可能从一个繁殖期到终身不等。一夫一妻制并不排除“基因滥交”，即婚外交配。事实上，这相当普遍。一夫一妻制是一种本质上不稳定的交配策略。好处包括（相对）确定能够利用伴侣的繁殖潜力，但主要缺点是与其他潜在伴侣交配的机会大大减少，特别是在雄性表现出强烈的配偶守护行为的情况下。配偶守护，特别是雄性对拥有优质领地的雌性或接受雄性领地的雌性的守护，已被证明是导致一夫一妻制进化的最重要的选择压力。一夫一妻制的结合强烈有利于雄性在养育后代方面投入的进化，大多数鸟类的情况就是如此（90%的鸟类物种是一夫一妻制，大多数表现出双亲共同照顾幼雏）。哺乳动物在这方面的表现要少得多（雌性哺乳动物垄断新生幼崽的喂养）大多数雄性哺乳动物不照顾它们的后代；人类在这方面是个例外。与大多数哺乳动物一样，人类并非严格实行一夫一妻制。然而，社会一夫一妻制的倾向已经进化，并且受到文化因素，特别是宗教的强烈强化。因此，在一些文化中，一夫一妻制是主要的交配制度；然而，大多数文化（约85%）是一夫多妻制。对人类来说，最佳的进化策略是必要时实行一夫一妻制，可能时实行一夫多妻制。
