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Harems

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 285 Accesses

Synonyms

One-male group; One-male troop; One-male/multi-female group; One-male-multi/female troop; Single-male group; Single-male troop; Single-male/multi-female group

Definition

  1. (I)

    Cohesive social group that is constituted by one or few dominant individuals of one sex (usually males) and, respectively, two or more individuals of the other sex (usually females), and in which dominant individuals actively fight nonmember competitors for all or, at least, the vast majority of the copulations with the group members of the other sex.

  2. (II)

    The assembly of individuals of one sex (usually females) that is sexually monopolized by one or few individuals of the other sex (usually males).

Introduction

Polygyny (i.e., the mating combination in which one male is paired to two or more females) is found in different forms, including resource defense polygyny, female defense polygyny, scramble competition, and leks (Emlen and Oring 1977). In these mating systems, high-quality males acquire more than...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BECO do Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, n° 321, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, Brazil

    Renato C. Macedo-Rego & Eduardo S. A. Santos

  2. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, n° 321, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, Brazil

    Renato C. Macedo-Rego

Authors
  1. Renato C. Macedo-Rego
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  2. Eduardo S. A. Santos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renato C. Macedo-Rego .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA

    Russell Jackson

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Macedo-Rego, R.C., Santos, E.S.A. (2017). Harems. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2722-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2722-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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