Re: Male Parental Investment

Guy Hoelzer (hoelzer@unr.edu)
Tue, 25 Jul 1995 09:06:37 -0800

In article <3ura0d$ik8@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, rosswilymz@aol.com
(RossWilymz) wrote:

> .Technical point: "monogamously-paired couple" does not necessarily
> .mean *sexually exclusive couples. Pair-bonding in living, forming
> .social interactions, etc., doesn't mean limiting *sex to that couple.
>

I understand that terms can carry different meanings when they are applied
in different fields, but one must be careful not to confuse meanings when
crossing over into a new field. In evolutionary biology the term monogamy
refers only to mating patterns, not to social pair-bonding. Hence, some
systems are described as monogamous despite a complete lack of social
interaction (e.g., cooperation) between partners outside the act of mating.
In such a monogamous system there is no male parental care. Serial
monogamy is a term used to describe a system in which individuals mate with
one individual at a time; for example, they may be monogamous within a
breeding season, but have a different mate for each breeding season.

-- 
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Guy Hoelzer
hoelzer@unr.edu
Dept. of Biology
University of Nevada Reno
Reno, NV 89557
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