In all of the previous posts, I have refrained from using information and examples from human studies. This is because it is crucial to understand why monogamy might occur evolutionarily and how it occurs in other species before attempting to…
Category: Monogamy
Discusses the evolution and neuroendocrinology behind monogamy in animals and humans.
Steroid Hormones and Monogamy – A Complex Relationship
In the last post, the social implications of the neuropeptides vasopressin and oxytocin were synthesized in order to question their role in the occurrence of monogamy. In this post, the focus will be on steroid hormones such as testosterone and…
The Aggressive Side of the “Love Molecule”
In the previous posts, a broad overview of the evolution of monogamy was described. Sexual behavior and parental care were compared in several different classes of animals, and different theories for the evolution of monogamy were discussed. These were ultimate…
Birds, not Bees, but Salamanders
Differences in monogamous behavior between several vastly different species are discussed.
Why Only One?
Monogamy, or the practice of having one mate at a time, has been a subject of interest likely for all of human history. The question of when and why monogamy evolved are debated, but not as much so as whether…