Instead we propose that these high levels are examples of convenience polyandry: females accept high numbers of matings if costs of refusing males are higher than costs of accepting superfluous matings.
For instance, what factors favour the origin of polyandry, not just its maintenance?
We studied the benefits of polyandry by using the Arctic charr as a model species.
Although the society of the Lahaul Valley is patrilineal, the practice of polyandry gave women considerable sway over many matters.
The explanation for a smattering of polyandry in humans, however, remains a matter of guesswork for anthropologists.
Heritability of polyandry ±SE, estimated as a threshold trait using a full-sib design, wash2 =0.40±0.12.
Observed and expected frequencies of polyandry in F2 fitted significantly under the hypothesis of a two-loci model.
The average livestock holdings per household had, however, fallen by 30% in the 1990s due to the abandonment of polyandry and the resulting division of herds (our survey).
He and a colleague concluded that disease resistance is an adaption that would favor the evolution of polyandry.
"This is something that could very well be a factor in the determining the evolution of polyandry".
