The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People (40 page)

It is noteworthy that the usually puritanical Puritans wrote enthusiastically about the erotic joys of marriage, albeit in coded language. For example, John Milton, in
Paradise Lost:

Hail wedded Love, mysterious Law, true source

Of human offspring, sole propertie,

In Paradise of all things common else.

By thee adulterous lust was driv'n from men

Among the bestial herds to range ...

In the Western world, sex and marriage have traditionally been closely bound--so closely, in fact, that the former was defined by the latter. So we have premarital sex, marital sex, and extramarital sex. (There are no words yet, interestingly, for post-divorce sex or even widow or widower sex. Would a sexually active confirmed bachelor, age 45, be engaging in "premarital" sex?) Sex itself may be in the process of defining itself independent of marriage. WTiether this is healthy, however, is another question. Presumed experts have come down hard on both sides of the issue-Thus, psychologist Havelock Ellis has written:

The man who resides in a large urban area and who never once, during thirty or more years of married life, is sorely tempted to engage in adultery for purposes of sexual variety is to be suspected of being indeed biologically and/or psychologically abnormal; and he who frequently has such desires and who occasionally and unobtrusively carries them into practice is well within the normal healthy range.

Alternatively, many marriage counselors and psychotherapists, as well as classical psychoanalysts, view extramarital affairs as neurotic at best, resulting from narcissism, character disorders, fragmentary superegos, infantile love-needs, and the like. In their book
The Wandering Husband,
H. Spot-nitz and L. Freeman maintain that "Infidelity may be statistically normal but it is also psychologically unhealthy.... It is a sign of emotional health to be faithful to your husband or wife."

The human being is a complex creature. He and she live within an elaborate framework of cultural prescriptions, biological inclinations, historical

NOTES
195

21 Indeed the famous team of sex researchers [subsequent quote]: A. C. Kinsey, W. B. Pomeroy, and C. E. Martin. 1948.
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male.
Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.

22 In addition, although the Coolidge effect: D. A. Dewsbury. 1981. An exercise in the prediction of monogamy in the field from laboratory data on 42 species of muroid rodents.
Biologist
63: 138-162; A. F. Dixson. 1995. Sexual selection and ejaculatory frequencies in primates.
Folia Primatologica
64: 146-152.

23 Also, males having a high reproductive success: H. L. Gibbs, P. J. Weatherhead, P. T. Boag, B. N. White, L. M. Tabak, and D. J. Hoysak. 1990. Realized reproductive success of polygynous red-winged blackbirds revealed by DNA markers.
Science
250: 1394-1397.

24 In fact, two of the unpaired floaters: John G. Ewen, D. P. Armstrong, and

D. M. Lambert. 1999. Floater males gain reproductive success through extrapair fertilizations in the stitchbird.
Animal Behaviour
58: 321-328.

24 Regardless of the mechanism: T. R. Birkhead, J. E. Pellatt, and F. M. Hunter. 1988. Extra-pair copulation and sperm competition in the zebra finch.
Nature
334: 60-62.

25 But, instead, EPCs: A. P. Moller. 1998. Sperm competition and sexual selection. In
Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection,
ed. T- R. Birkhead and A. P. Moller. San Diego: Academic Press.

25 Now, DNA fingerprinting shows: J. M. Pemberton, S. D. Albon, F. E. Guinness, T. H. Clutton-Brock, and G. A. Dover. 1992. Behavioral estimates of male mating success tested by DNA fingerprinting in a polygynous mammal.
Behavioral Ecology
3: 66-75.

25 In one study involving birds: T. R. Birkhead, F. Fletcher, E. J. Pellatt, and A. Staples. 1995. Ejaculate quality and the success of extra-pair copulations in the zebra finch.
Nature
377: 422-423.

26 So, one possible explanation: M. Kirkpatrick, T. Price, and S. J. Arnold. 1990. The Darwin-Fisher theory of sexual selection in monogamous birds.
Evolution
44: 180-193.

26 It provides strong evidence: B. C. Sheldon and J. Ellegren. 1999. Sexual selection resulting from extrapair paternity in collared flycatchers.
Animal Behaviour 57:
285-298.

27 There would then be a reproductive payoff: H. Ellegren, L. Gustafsson, and

B. C. Sheldon. 1996. Sex ratio adjustment in relation to paternal attractiveness in a wild bird population.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
93: 723-728.

27 A typical one: B. Kempenaers, G. R. Verheyen, M. Van den Broeck, T. Burke,

C. Van Broeckhoven, and A, A. Dhondt. 1992. Extra-pair paternity results from female preference for high-quality males in the blue tit.
Nature
357: 494-496;

S. M. Yezerinac, P. J. Weatherhead, and P. T. Boag. 1995. Extra-pair paternity and

196
THE MYTH OF MONOGAMY

the opportunity for sexual selection in a socially monogamous bird
(Dendroica petechia). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
37: 179-188.

28 It appears that older, more colorful males: H. G. Smith, R. Montgomerie, T. Poldmaa, B. N. White, and P. T. Boag. 1991. DNA fingerprinting reveals relation between tail ornaments and cuckoldry in barn swallows.
Behavioral Ecology 2:
90-98; D. Hasselquist, S. Bensch, arid T. von Schantz. 1996. Correlation between male song repertoire, extra-pair paternity and offspring survival in the great reed warbler.
Nature
381: 229-232; J. Sundberg and A. Dixon. 1996. Old, colourful male yellowhammers,
Emberiza citrinella,
benefit from extra-pair copulations.
Animal Behaviour
52: 113-122.

28 Among cattle egrets: M. Fujioka and S. Yamagishi. 1981. Extramarital and pair copulations in the cattle egret.
Auk
9: 134-144.

28 Similarly, male secondary sexual traits: G. E. Hill, R. Montgomerie, T. Roeder, and P. T. Boag. 1994. Sexual selection and cuckoldry in a monogamous songbird: implications for sexual selection theory.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
35: 193-199; O. Ratti, M. Hovi, A. Lundberg, H. Tegelstrom, and R. V. Alatalo. 1995. Extra-pair paternity and male characteristics in the pied flycatcher.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
37: 419-425; P. J. Weatherhead and P. T. Boag. 1995. Pair and extra-pair mating success relative to mate quality in red-winged blackbirds.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
37: 81-91.

29 But occasionally the in-pair female: T. H Birkhead, T. Burke, R. Zann, F. M. Hunter, and A. P. Krupa. 1990. Extra-pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism in wild zebra finches,
Taeniopygia guttata,
revealed by DNA fingerprinting.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
27: 315-324.

29 Guarding takes about a quarter of an hour: G. A. Parker. 1970. The reproductive behaviour and the nature of sexual selection in
Scatophaga stercoraria
L. (Diptera: Scatophagidae). IV. The origin and evolution of the passive phase.
Evolution
24: 774-788.

29 If another male dungfly: H. Sigurjonsdottir and G. A. Parker. 1981. Dung fly struggles: evidence for assessment strategy.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
8:219-230.

30 Male bank swallows, for example: M. D. Beecher and I. M. Beecher. 1979. Sociobiology of bank swallows: reproductive strategy of the male.
Science
205: 1282-1285.

30 Mate-guarding is also a common male strategy: P. W. Sherman. 1989. Mate guarding as paternity insurance in Idaho ground squirrels.
Nature
338: 418-420.

30 A now-classic anthropological review: G. P. Murdock. 1967.
Culture and Society.
Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

30 In some societies, husbands: R. Benedict. 1934.
Patterns of Culture.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

NOTES
197

30 Such concern may not be ill founded: R. Baker and M. Bellis. 1995.
Human Sperm Competition.
London: Chapman & Hall.

30 Here is a description of courtship [subsequent quote]: E. Selous. 1933.
Evolution of Habit on Birds.
London: Constable.

31 If there is a continuing arms race: For some of the range of correlations-- neutral, positive and negative--see S. B. Meek, R. J. Robertson, and P. T. Boag. 1994. Extrapair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism in eastern bluebirds as revealed by DNA fingerprinting.
Auk
111: 739-744; B. Kampenaers, G. R. Verheyen, and A. A. Dhondt. 1995. Mate guarding and copulation behaviour in monogamous and polygynous blue tits: do males follow a best-of-a-bad-job strategy?
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
36: 33-42; T. Burke et al. 1989. Parental care and mating behaviour of polyandrous dunnocks
Prunella modularis
related to paternity by DNA fingerprinting.
Nature
338: 249-251.

31 Among a group of insects: G. A Gangrade. 1963. A contribution to the biology of
Necroscia sparaxes
Westwood (Phasmidae: Phasmida).
Entomologist
96: 83-93.

31 Thus, it is typically more intense: E.g., J. L Dickinson and M. L. Leonard. 1997. Mate-attendance and copulatory behaviour in western bluebirds: evidence of mate guarding.
Animal Behaviour 52:
981-992.

31 Among barn swallows: A. P. Mailer. 1987. Extent and duration of mate guarding in swallows
Hirundo rustica. Ornis Scandinavica
18: 95-100.

32 Females of this species breed in alternate years: D. P. Barash. 1981. Mate-guarding and gallivanting by male hoary marmots
(Marmota caligata). Behavioral

. Ecology and Sociobiology
9: 187-193.

32 As soon as their mates are infertile: L. M. Brodsky. 1988. Mating tactics of male rock ptarmigan
Lagopus mutus:
a conditional strategy.
Animal Behaviour
36: 335-342.

32 Just about always: e.g., J. L. Dickinson. 1997. Male detention affects extra-pair copulation frequency and pair behavior in western bluebirds.
Animal Behaviour
51: 27-47; D. F. Westneat. 1994. To guard or go forage: conflicting demands affect the paternity of male red-winged blackbirds.
The American Naturalist
144: 343-354.

32 By contrast, when males were removed: D. Currie, A. P. Krupa, T. Burke, and D. B. A. Thompson. 1999. The effect of experimental male removals on extrapair paternity in the wheatear,
Oenanthe oenanthe. Animal Behaviour 57:
145-152.