Female Supremacy Articles - Page 13

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Peter Kappeler, president of the European Federation of Primatology, provides an example, saying, "Females can synchronize their receptive periods. If all females of a group become receptive within a short period of time, it becomes increasingly difficult for a particular male to monopolize matings. As a result most females are able to mate with several different males."

However, researchers say synchronized estrus and other adaptations geared towards multi-male, mixed-sex group living would take time to evolve, so male numbers would lag behind. Males would also have to learn to live together while in female company. Then there's the problem of sexually-transmitted diseases, says co-author Charlie Nunn, an evolution and ecology researcher at the University of California, Davis.

Nunn said: "As the number of females in a group increases, there tends to be more males, and with this social system promiscuous mating commonly occurs. This may favor the transmission of STDs, along with many other directly transmitted pathogens." He says this would slow the evolution of larger, multi-male groups.

If females drive social evolution in primates, what about humans? To what extent have female ancestors shaped human society, and if ancient man had it his way how differently would we be living today?