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Sergey Gavrilets, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology atthe University of Tennessee, Knoxville, may have found the answer,and it lies in the power of female choice. The study reveals howfemales chose their mates played a critical role in human evolutionby leading to monogamous relationships, which laid the foundationfor the institution of the modern family. Using mathematical modeling, the associate director for scientificactivities at the National Institute for Mathematical andBiological Synthesis (NIMBioS) at UT has discovered that thetransformation may have occurred when early-hominid females startedchoosing males who were good providers. Gavrilets' findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The "sexual revolution" entailed males first competingwith other males for dominance, as a way to get matings. However,low-ranked males—and eventually all males except those withthe highest societal stature—began supplying females withprovisions in what is called "food-for-mating" to get aleg up on the competition. Females showed preference for the"provisioning" males, leading males' energy to be spenton providing for females and females becoming increasinglyfaithful. This spurred self-domestication and the modern family aswe know it today. "This change has confounded scientists for a long time becausemany species would be much better off evolutionarily if the effortspent on males competing for mates was redirected towardsincreasing female fertility or survivorship of theiroffspring," said Gavrilets. The study demonstrates mathematically that the most commonlyproposed theories for the transition to human pair bonding—orcoupling—are not biologically feasible. However, the study advances a new model showing that the transitionto pair-bonding can occur when female choice and faithfulness,among other factors, are included. The result is an increasedemphasis on males provisioning females over male competition formating. "The study reveals that female choice played a crucial role inhuman evolution," said Gavrilets. According to Gavrilets, the transition to coupling has opened thepath to intensified male parental investment, which was abreakthrough adaptation with multiple anatomical, behavioral andphysiological consequences for early hominids and for all of theirdescendants. It shifted the dynamic away from males competing witheach other for sex to males competing with each other to see who isa better provider to get better mates. "Pair bonding laid the foundation for a later emergence of theinstitution of the modern family," said Gavrilets. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Filler Masterbatch , China Plastic Granules for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Color Masterbatches.
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