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9 - Mate retention, semen displacement, and sperm competition in humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2010

By
Aaron T. Goetz  and
Todd K. Shackelford
Edited by
Steven M. Platek  and
Todd K. Shackelford
Aaron T. Goetz
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
Steven M. Platek
Affiliation:
Drexel University, Philadelphia
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Florida Atlantic University
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Summary

Introduction

Competition between males to fertilize a female's eggs can occur before, during, and after copulation (Parker, 1970; and see Birkhead & Møller, 1998). When the sperm of two or more males simultaneously occupies the reproductive tract of a female and competes to fertilize her eggs, sperm competition occurs (Parker, 1970). Sperm competition has been documented or inferred to exist in many species, ranging from molluscs (Baur, 1998) and insects (Simmons, 2001) to birds (Birkhead & Møller, 1992) and humans (Baker & Bellis, 1993a, 1993b; Gallup et al., 2003; Shackelford, 2003; Shackelford et al., 2002, 2004; Smith, 1984; Wyckoff, Wang, & Wu, 2000).

For species that practice social monogamy, the mating system in which males and females form long-term pair bonds but also pursue extra-pair copulations (e.g. most birds and humans), female sexual infidelity creates the primary context for sperm competition (Birkhead & Møller, 1992; Smith, 1984). Males of such species may have adaptations that decrease the likelihood that a rival male's sperm will fertilize his partner's eggs – adaptations that decrease the likelihood of being cuckolded, unwittingly investing resources in genetically unrelated offspring. Male sexual jealousy, for example, is one of the most widely researched human anti-cuckoldry adaptations. Male sexual jealousy is hypothesized to motivate men to deter a mate from a sexual infidelity or a permanent defection from the mateship, and to deter rivals from mate poaching (e.g. Buss et al., 1992; Daly, Wilson, & Weghorst, 1982; Harris, 2003; Symons, 1979; White & Mullen, 1989).

Type
Chapter
Information
Female Infidelity and Paternal Uncertainty
Evolutionary Perspectives on Male Anti-Cuckoldry Tactics
 , pp. 173 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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