In der Monogamie-Rangliste rangieren Menschen vor Erdmännchen, aber unter Bibern. Laut einer Studie der Universität Cambridge liegt der Mensch auf Platz 7 von 35 Arten auf der Skala der Monogamie.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/10/humans-rank-among-leading-monogamous-mammals-study-finds
4 Kommentare
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/292/2060/20252163/363965/Human-monogamy-in-mammalian-context
From the linked article:
**Humans rank above meerkats but below beavers in monogamy league table**
**Human beings in 7th place out of 35 species on monogamy scale, according to a study by Cambridge University**
Humans are playing in the premier league of monogamous mammals, according to a new ranking of animals by their reproductive habits, but we may need a new manager to beat the beavers.
In the study from University of Cambridge, humans ranked 7th out of 35 species on the monogamy scale, pipping white-handed gibbons and meerkats, but lagging behind moustached tamarins and Eurasian beavers.
Dr Mark Dyble, an evolutionary anthropologist at Cambridge, said humans sit comfortably in the top flight for monogamous species, but the vast majority of mammals take “a far more promiscuous approach to mating”.
Animals in the lower ranks include feral cats, bottlenose dolphins and our close genetic relatives, chimpanzees and mountain gorillas. Scotland’s Soay sheep is at the bottom due to each ewe mating with several rams.
Dyble found that levels of monogamy varied substantially across more than 100 human populations he assessed. The lowest rate was seen at an Early Neolithic site in the Cotswolds where 26% of siblings were full siblings. Meanwhile, in four Neolithic populations in northern France, 100% were full siblings.
He then ranked humans and 34 other mammal species by the average proportion of full siblings. The top 11, led by the California deermouse, are all considered to be monogamous, while the bottom 24 are regarded as non-monogamous species.
Humans had a 66% rate of full siblings, meaning full siblings outnumbered half-siblings two-to-one. Beavers were ahead at 72% with meerkats just behind at 60%. Mountain gorillas came in at 6%, with chimpanzees and dolphins at 4%.
Top 10 (percentage of siblings that are full siblings)
California deermouse (100)
African wild dog (85)
Damaraland mole-rat (79.5)
Moustached Tamarin (77.6)
Ethiopian wolf (76.5)
Eurasian beaver (72.9)
Humans (66)
White-handed gibbon (63.5)
Meerkat (59.9)
Grey wolf (46.2)
Red fox (45.2)
This approach seems a bit flawed when you add humans to the mix.
As per Merriam-Webster, monogamy is defined as the state or practice of having only one sexual partner at a time.
While analyzing this for other animals makes sense, humans have access to means of contraception.
When the results are based on the genetic data for siblings and half-siblings, we have an inherent bias towards a result supporting monogamy.
Bleh, unimpressed by this. Knowing where we fall in a monogamy scale with animals that mate simply to procreate mixed with animals we know have sex for pleasure, means nothing. Waste of time, waste of money and this is why university budgets are inflated. This research offers nothing to society.
It’s interesting that it has to be enforced by political, legal, and religious power structures.
For that reason it cannot be terribly natural for us.