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The Evolution of Mammalian Sociality in an Ecological Perspective pp 37–45Cite as

Multimale-Multifemale Groups and “Nested” Architectures: Collaboration Among Mammalian Males

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Abstract

This chapter addresses the evolution of multimale-multifemale groups and the evolution of “nested” societies. In the former, > 1 reproductive males co-reside with > 1 reproductive females as well as their young, and are generally characterized by multiple mating by females (“polyandry,” “female emancipation”). Mechanisms such as dominance hierarchies and “queuing” manage competition in the foregoing reproductive units, and types of both sexes usually display tolerance, if not facilitation, among unrelated adults. Multimale-multifemale and “nested” population structures exhibit incipient division of labor, comparable, in some ways, to features associated with “primitively eusocial” mammals and social insects.

Multi-male troops are distinguished from the age-graded-male troops by the presence typically of two or more males who are full adults, physically and behaviorally. Brown (1975)

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  1. Mammals and Phenogroups (MaPs), Asheville, North Carolina, USA

    Clara B. Jones

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  1. Clara B. Jones
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© 2014 Clara B. Jones

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Jones, C. (2014). Multimale-Multifemale Groups and “Nested” Architectures: Collaboration Among Mammalian Males. In: The Evolution of Mammalian Sociality in an Ecological Perspective. SpringerBriefs in Ecology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03931-2_4

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