Kanazawa Satoshi, Novak Deanna L
Interdisciplinary Institute of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
J Biosoc Sci. 2005 Sep;37(5):657-65. doi: 10.1017/S0021932004007047.
Evolutionary biologists mostly assume that polygyny increases sexual dimorphism in size because, under polygyny, larger males monopolize mating opportunities and pass on their 'large male' genes to their sons. Available data on parent-child correlations in height among humans (Homo sapiens) do not support the crucial assumption that height is transmitted along sex lines. This paper instead suggests that human sexual dimorphism in size emerged, not because men got taller, but because women got shorter by undergoing early menarche in response to polygyny. It further speculates that, rather than genetically transmitted, the sexual dimorphism may emerge anew in each generation in response to the degree of polygyny in society. The analysis of comparative data supports the prediction that polygyny reduces women's height, but has no effect on men's, and is consistent with the speculation that the origin of human sexual dimorphism in size may be cultural, not genetic.
进化生物学家大多认为，一夫多妻制会加剧体型上的两性差异，因为在一夫多妻制下，体型较大的雄性垄断了交配机会，并将其“大型雄性”基因传递给儿子。关于人类（智人）亲子身高相关性的现有数据并不支持身高沿性别线传递这一关键假设。本文则提出，人类体型上的两性差异并非因为男性身高增加，而是因为女性为应对一夫多妻制而初潮提前，导致身高变矮。文章进一步推测，这种两性差异可能并非通过基因传递，而是会在每一代中因社会一夫多妻制的程度而重新出现。对比较数据的分析支持了一夫多妻制会降低女性身高但对男性身高无影响这一预测，并且与人类体型两性差异的起源可能是文化而非基因这一推测相符。
