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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–6Cite as

History of Sperm Competition in Humans

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Synonyms

Adaptations to human sperm competition; Human sperm competition tactics

Definition

Many species have faced sperm competition (when sperm from two or more males compete to fertilize an egg in a female’s reproductive tract) in their ancestral past to varying degrees. In the history of human evolution, the common mating system of social monogamy led to decreased levels of sperm competition relative to some other primates; however, it was not completely absent. Evidence of this history of sperm competition is seen in both men and women in terms of their genetic makeup, anatomy, and evolved mating psychology.

Introduction

In humans, there is evidence that they repeatedly faced sperm competition in their ancestral past. That is, women mated with two or more men in a sufficiently brief window of time to allow sperm from more than one man into their reproductive tract that subsequently would compete to fertilize ova (Parker 1970). Because the most common mating system in humans is...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Tara DeLecce

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  1. Tara DeLecce
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Correspondence to Tara DeLecce .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

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

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, 492 Bluemont Hall, Manhattan, KS, USA

    Gary L Brase

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DeLecce, T. (2016). History of Sperm Competition in Humans. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1942-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1942-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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