ON A PANHUMAN PREFERENCE FOR MONANDRY - IS POLYANDRY AN EXCEPTION

Marital polyandry is:the basis for an argument that humans prefer mari tal monandry. The argument, in part, is that polyandry is 1) extremely rare, 2) never the only allowed form, 3) when fraternal, often functi onally monandrous, 4) when non-fraternal, also non-residential, tendin g to monandry, and 5) apt to ''fission'' into monogamy. Tibetan polyan dry is the prime focus, but other cases are considered. Though polyand ry has received much attention from those seeking to validate or refut e inclusive-fitness theory, or to advance purely cultural arguments, t he posited human preference for marital monandry is something which ca n be addressed on-the basis of existing ethnography.