Monogamy may sound sweet, but why it evolved isn't

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Only a few species of mammals are monogamous, and now dueling scientific teams think they've figured out why they got that way. But their answers aren't exactly romantic.

The answers aren't even the same.

One team looked just at primates, the animal group that includes apes and monkeys. The researchers said the exclusive pairing of a male and a female evolved as a way to let fathers defend their young against being killed by other males.

The other scientific team got a different answer after examining about 2,000 species of non-human mammals. They concluded that mammals became monogamous because females had spread out geographically, and so males had to stick close by to fend off the competition.

So it's not about romance, said researcher Dieter Lukas of the University of Cambridge, lead author of the mammals study. "It's just really the best he can do."

The differing conclusions apparently arose because the two teams used different methods and sample sizes, the researchers said.

But both teams discounted a long-standing explanation for monogamy, that it provides two parents rather than one for rearing offspring. That's just a side benefit, they said.

"Romance obviously came after" monogamy, said Christopher "Kit" Opie, an anthropology researcher at the University College London, who was the lead author of the primate study

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20130729/US-SCI-Why.Monogamy/

Ah, yes! The politics of love!

[X Factor 1,112]

Monogamy all the way!

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We're in a rare period of history where people like you and I can go about our daily lives without having to engage in any form of active defense of our lives or property.

It won't last forever.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

We're in a rare period of history where people like you and I can go about our daily lives without having to engage in any form of active defense of our lives or property.

It won't last forever.

Buy more ammo.

[X Factor 1,112]

Buy more ammo.

New Jersey is one of the few states where it's difficult for the average Joe to buy guns or ammo legally

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

New Jersey is one of the few states where it's difficult for the average Joe to buy guns or ammo legally

Jersey and legal are not two words usually used in the same sentence.