Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals

Cody T. Ross; Paul L. Hooper; Jennifer E. Smith; Adrian V. Jaeggi; Eric Alden Smith; Sergey Gavrilets; Fatema tuz Zohora; John Ziker; Dimitris Xygalatas; Emily E. Wroblewski; Brian Wood; Bruce Winterhalder; Kai P. Willführ; Aiyana K. Willard; Kara Walker; Christopher von Rueden; Eckart Voland; Claudia Valeggia; Bapu Vaitla; Samuel Urlacher; Mary Towner; Chun Yi Sum; Lawrence S. Sugiyama; Karen B. Strier; Kathrine Starkweather; Daniel Major-Smith; Mary Shenk; Rebecca Sear; Edmond Seabright; Ryan Schacht; Brooke Scelza; Shane Scaggs; Jonathan Salerno; Caissa Revilla-Minaya; Daniel Redhead; Anne Pusey; Benjamin Grant Purzycki; Eleanor A. Power; Anne Pisor; Jenni Pettay; Susan Perry; Abigail E. Page; Luis Pacheco-Cobos; Kathryn Oths; Seung Yun Oh; David Nolin; Daniel Nettle; Cristina Moya; Andrea Bamberg Migliano; Karl J. Mertens; Rita A. McNamara; Richard McElreath; Siobhan Mattison; Eric Massengill; Frank Marlowe; Felicia Madimenos; Shane Macfarlan; Virpi Lummaa; Roberto Lizarralde; Ruizhe Liu; Melissa A. Liebert; Sheina Lew-Levy; Paul Leslie; Joseph Lanning; Karen Kramer; Jeremy Koster; Hillard S. Kaplan; Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav; A. Magdalena Hurtado; Kim Hill; Barry Hewlett; Samuli Helle; Thomas Headland; Janet Headland; Michael Gurven; Gianluca Grimalda; Russell Greaves; Christopher D. Golden; Irene Godoy; Mhairi Gibson; Claire El Mouden; Mark Dyble; Patricia Draper; Sean Downey; Angelina L. DeMarco; Helen Elizabeth Davis; Stefani Crabtree; Carmen Cortez; Heidi Colleran; Emma Cohen; Gregory Clark; Julia Clark; Mark A. Caudell; Chelsea E. Carminito; John Bunce; Adam Boyette; Samuel Bowles; Tami Blumenfield; Bret Beheim; Stephen Beckerman; Quentin Atkinson; Coren Apicella; Nurul Alam; Monique Borgerhoff Mulder

doi:10.1073/PNAS.2220124120

Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals

Cody T. Ross, Paul L. Hooper, Jennifer E. Smith, Adrian V. Jaeggi, Eric Alden Smith, Sergey Gavrilets, Fatema tuz Zohora, John Ziker, Dimitris Xygalatas, Emily E. Wroblewski, Brian Wood, Bruce Winterhalder, Kai P. Willführ, Aiyana K. Willard, Kara Walker, Christopher von Rueden, Eckart Voland, Claudia Valeggia, Bapu Vaitla, Samuel UrlacherMary Towner, Chun Yi Sum, Lawrence S. Sugiyama, Karen B. Strier, Kathrine Starkweather, Daniel Major-Smith, Mary Shenk, Rebecca Sear, Edmond Seabright, Ryan Schacht, Brooke Scelza, Shane Scaggs, Jonathan Salerno, Caissa Revilla-Minaya, Daniel Redhead, Anne Pusey, Benjamin Grant Purzycki, Eleanor A. Power, Anne Pisor, Jenni Pettay, Susan Perry, Abigail E. Page, Luis Pacheco-Cobos, Kathryn Oths, Seung Yun Oh, David Nolin, Daniel Nettle, Cristina Moya, Andrea Bamberg Migliano, Karl J. Mertens, Rita A. McNamara, Richard McElreath, Siobhan Mattison, Eric Massengill, Frank Marlowe, Felicia Madimenos, Shane Macfarlan, Virpi Lummaa, Roberto Lizarralde, Ruizhe Liu, Melissa A. Liebert, Sheina Lew-Levy, Paul Leslie, Joseph Lanning, Karen Kramer, Jeremy Koster, Hillard S. Kaplan, Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav, A. Magdalena Hurtado, Kim Hill, Barry Hewlett, Samuli Helle, Thomas Headland, Janet Headland, Michael Gurven, Gianluca Grimalda, Russell Greaves, Christopher D. Golden, Irene Godoy, Mhairi Gibson, Claire El Mouden, Mark Dyble, Patricia Draper, Sean Downey, Angelina L. DeMarco, Helen Elizabeth Davis, Stefani Crabtree, Carmen Cortez, Heidi Colleran, Emma Cohen, Gregory Clark, Julia Clark, Mark A. Caudell, Chelsea E. Carminito, John Bunce, Adam Boyette, Samuel Bowles, Tami Blumenfield, Bret Beheim, Stephen Beckerman, Quentin Atkinson, Coren Apicella, Nurul Alam, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder

Anthropology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women's fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species-including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	e2220124120
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	120
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2220124120
State	Published - 2023

Keywords

egalitarian syndrome
inequality
mating systems
monogamy
reproductive skew

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

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10.1073/PNAS.2220124120

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Ross, C. T., Hooper, P. L., Smith, J. E., Jaeggi, A. V., Smith, E. A., Gavrilets, S., tuz Zohora, F., Ziker, J., Xygalatas, D., Wroblewski, E. E., Wood, B., Winterhalder, B., Willführ, K. P., Willard, A. K., Walker, K., von Rueden, C., Voland, E., Valeggia, C., Vaitla, B., ... Mulder, M. B. (2023). Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(22), Article e2220124120. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2220124120

Ross, CT, Hooper, PL, Smith, JE, Jaeggi, AV, Smith, EA, Gavrilets, S, tuz Zohora, F, Ziker, J, Xygalatas, D, Wroblewski, EE, Wood, B, Winterhalder, B, Willführ, KP, Willard, AK, Walker, K, von Rueden, C, Voland, E, Valeggia, C, Vaitla, B, Urlacher, S, Towner, M, Sum, CY, Sugiyama, LS, Strier, KB, Starkweather, K, Major-Smith, D, Shenk, M, Sear, R, Seabright, E, Schacht, R, Scelza, B, Scaggs, S, Salerno, J, Revilla-Minaya, C, Redhead, D, Pusey, A, Purzycki, BG, Power, EA, Pisor, A, Pettay, J, Perry, S, Page, AE, Pacheco-Cobos, L, Oths, K, Oh, SY, Nolin, D, Nettle, D, Moya, C, Migliano, AB, Mertens, KJ, McNamara, RA, McElreath, R, Mattison, S, Massengill, E, Marlowe, F, Madimenos, F, Macfarlan, S, Lummaa, V, Lizarralde, R, Liu, R, Liebert, MA, Lew-Levy, S, Leslie, P, Lanning, J, Kramer, K, Koster, J, Kaplan, HS, Jamsranjav, B, Hurtado, AM, Hill, K, Hewlett, B, Helle, S, Headland, T, Headland, J, Gurven, M, Grimalda, G, Greaves, R, Golden, CD, Godoy, I, Gibson, M, El Mouden, C, Dyble, M, Draper, P, Downey, S, DeMarco, AL, Davis, HE, Crabtree, S, Cortez, C, Colleran, H, Cohen, E, Clark, G, Clark, J, Caudell, MA, Carminito, CE, Bunce, J, Boyette, A, Bowles, S, Blumenfield, T, Beheim, B, Beckerman, S, Atkinson, Q, Apicella, C, Alam, N & Mulder, MB 2023, 'Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 120, no. 22, e2220124120. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2220124120

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title = "Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals",

abstract = "To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women's fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species-including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms.",

keywords = "egalitarian syndrome, inequality, mating systems, monogamy, reproductive skew",

author = "Ross, {Cody T.} and Hooper, {Paul L.} and Smith, {Jennifer E.} and Jaeggi, {Adrian V.} and Smith, {Eric Alden} and Sergey Gavrilets and {tuz Zohora}, Fatema and John Ziker and Dimitris Xygalatas and Wroblewski, {Emily E.} and Brian Wood and Bruce Winterhalder and Willf{\"u}hr, {Kai P.} and Willard, {Aiyana K.} and Kara Walker and {von Rueden}, Christopher and Eckart Voland and Claudia Valeggia and Bapu Vaitla and Samuel Urlacher and Mary Towner and Sum, {Chun Yi} and Sugiyama, {Lawrence S.} and Strier, {Karen B.} and Kathrine Starkweather and Daniel Major-Smith and Mary Shenk and Rebecca Sear and Edmond Seabright and Ryan Schacht and Brooke Scelza and Shane Scaggs and Jonathan Salerno and Caissa Revilla-Minaya and Daniel Redhead and Anne Pusey and Purzycki, {Benjamin Grant} and Power, {Eleanor A.} and Anne Pisor and Jenni Pettay and Susan Perry and Page, {Abigail E.} and Luis Pacheco-Cobos and Kathryn Oths and Oh, {Seung Yun} and David Nolin and Daniel Nettle and Cristina Moya and Migliano, {Andrea Bamberg} and Mertens, {Karl J.} and McNamara, {Rita A.} and Richard McElreath and Siobhan Mattison and Eric Massengill and Frank Marlowe and Felicia Madimenos and Shane Macfarlan and Virpi Lummaa and Roberto Lizarralde and Ruizhe Liu and Liebert, {Melissa A.} and Sheina Lew-Levy and Paul Leslie and Joseph Lanning and Karen Kramer and Jeremy Koster and Kaplan, {Hillard S.} and Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav and Hurtado, {A. Magdalena} and Kim Hill and Barry Hewlett and Samuli Helle and Thomas Headland and Janet Headland and Michael Gurven and Gianluca Grimalda and Russell Greaves and Golden, {Christopher D.} and Irene Godoy and Mhairi Gibson and {El Mouden}, Claire and Mark Dyble and Patricia Draper and Sean Downey and DeMarco, {Angelina L.} and Davis, {Helen Elizabeth} and Stefani Crabtree and Carmen Cortez and Heidi Colleran and Emma Cohen and Gregory Clark and Julia Clark and Caudell, {Mark A.} and Carminito, {Chelsea E.} and John Bunce and Adam Boyette and Samuel Bowles and Tami Blumenfield and Bret Beheim and Stephen Beckerman and Quentin Atkinson and Coren Apicella and Nurul Alam and Mulder, {Monique Borgerhoff}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2023 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1073/PNAS.2220124120",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "120",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

number = "22",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals

AU - Ross, Cody T.

AU - Hooper, Paul L.

AU - Smith, Jennifer E.

AU - Jaeggi, Adrian V.

AU - Smith, Eric Alden

AU - Gavrilets, Sergey

AU - tuz Zohora, Fatema

AU - Ziker, John

AU - Xygalatas, Dimitris

AU - Wroblewski, Emily E.

AU - Wood, Brian

AU - Winterhalder, Bruce

AU - Willführ, Kai P.

AU - Willard, Aiyana K.

AU - Walker, Kara

AU - von Rueden, Christopher

AU - Voland, Eckart

AU - Valeggia, Claudia

AU - Vaitla, Bapu

AU - Urlacher, Samuel

AU - Towner, Mary

AU - Sum, Chun Yi

AU - Sugiyama, Lawrence S.

AU - Strier, Karen B.

AU - Starkweather, Kathrine

AU - Major-Smith, Daniel

AU - Shenk, Mary

AU - Sear, Rebecca

AU - Seabright, Edmond

AU - Schacht, Ryan

AU - Scelza, Brooke

AU - Scaggs, Shane

AU - Salerno, Jonathan

AU - Revilla-Minaya, Caissa

AU - Redhead, Daniel

AU - Pusey, Anne

AU - Purzycki, Benjamin Grant

AU - Power, Eleanor A.

AU - Pisor, Anne

AU - Pettay, Jenni

AU - Perry, Susan

AU - Page, Abigail E.

AU - Pacheco-Cobos, Luis

AU - Oths, Kathryn

AU - Oh, Seung Yun

AU - Nolin, David

AU - Nettle, Daniel

AU - Moya, Cristina

AU - Migliano, Andrea Bamberg

AU - Mertens, Karl J.

AU - McNamara, Rita A.

AU - McElreath, Richard

AU - Mattison, Siobhan

AU - Massengill, Eric

AU - Marlowe, Frank

AU - Madimenos, Felicia

AU - Macfarlan, Shane

AU - Lummaa, Virpi

AU - Lizarralde, Roberto

AU - Liu, Ruizhe

AU - Liebert, Melissa A.

AU - Lew-Levy, Sheina

AU - Leslie, Paul

AU - Lanning, Joseph

AU - Kramer, Karen

AU - Koster, Jeremy

AU - Kaplan, Hillard S.

AU - Jamsranjav, Bayarsaikhan

AU - Hurtado, A. Magdalena

AU - Hill, Kim

AU - Hewlett, Barry

AU - Helle, Samuli

AU - Headland, Thomas

AU - Headland, Janet

AU - Gurven, Michael

AU - Grimalda, Gianluca

AU - Greaves, Russell

AU - Golden, Christopher D.

AU - Godoy, Irene

AU - Gibson, Mhairi

AU - El Mouden, Claire

AU - Dyble, Mark

AU - Draper, Patricia

AU - Downey, Sean

AU - DeMarco, Angelina L.

AU - Davis, Helen Elizabeth

AU - Crabtree, Stefani

AU - Cortez, Carmen

AU - Colleran, Heidi

AU - Cohen, Emma

AU - Clark, Gregory

AU - Clark, Julia

AU - Caudell, Mark A.

AU - Carminito, Chelsea E.

AU - Bunce, John

AU - Boyette, Adam

AU - Bowles, Samuel

AU - Blumenfield, Tami

AU - Beheim, Bret

AU - Beckerman, Stephen

AU - Atkinson, Quentin

AU - Apicella, Coren

AU - Alam, Nurul

AU - Mulder, Monique Borgerhoff

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women's fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species-including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms.

AB - To address claims of human exceptionalism, we determine where humans fit within the greater mammalian distribution of reproductive inequality. We show that humans exhibit lower reproductive skew (i.e., inequality in the number of surviving offspring) among males and smaller sex differences in reproductive skew than most other mammals, while nevertheless falling within the mammalian range. Additionally, female reproductive skew is higher in polygynous human populations than in polygynous nonhumans mammals on average. This patterning of skew can be attributed in part to the prevalence of monogamy in humans compared to the predominance of polygyny in nonhuman mammals, to the limited degree of polygyny in the human societies that practice it, and to the importance of unequally held rival resources to women's fitness. The muted reproductive inequality observed in humans appears to be linked to several unusual characteristics of our species-including high levels of cooperation among males, high dependence on unequally held rival resources, complementarities between maternal and paternal investment, as well as social and legal institutions that enforce monogamous norms.

KW - egalitarian syndrome

KW - inequality

KW - mating systems

KW - monogamy

KW - reproductive skew

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85164208158&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/PNAS.2220124120

DO - 10.1073/PNAS.2220124120

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85164208158

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 120

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 22

M1 - e2220124120

ER -

Reproductive inequality in humans and other mammals

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