New Delhi: Are humans meant to be faithful in romantic relationships or are we biologically inclined to be promiscuous? A study from the University of Cambridge finds that while humans aren’t as monogamous as the Eurasian beaver, we are far less wanton than chimps.
Dr Mark Dyble, Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Anthropology, measured monogamous relationships across the animal kingdom. In a 2025 study published titled ‘Human monogamy in mammalian context’, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Dyble examined the mating behaviour of 35 species of mammals.
From modern society to the Neolithic period, 103 separate populations of Humans were studied. Dyble relied on family records, data from archaeological sites and Bronze Age burial grounds.
In comparing siblings who shared both parents with half-siblings, humans received an average score of 66 per cent. Two-thirds of sibling pairs were full-siblings, i.e., they shared the same parents. Dyble concluded that the figure was sufficiently high for humans to qualify as a predominantly monogamous species, following in the paw steps of the Eurasian beaver at 72.9 per cent, the Damaraland mole rat at 79.5 per cent, and the California deermouse with a whopping 100 per cent.
What role does monogamy play in the animal kingdom?
Monogamy in Animalia, however, comes with certain perks that may very well have evolved in multiple species over time. It proposes how socially monogamous species remain close across breeding seasons to care for their young, increasing the chances of offspring survival and warding off rival mates.
Although ranked alongside the beaver and the meerkat, human society is vastly different. In an interview with the BBC, Dyble said, “Most of these species live in colony-like social groups or perhaps live in solitary pairs that go around together. Humans are very different from that. We live in what we call multi-male, multi-female groups, within which we have these monogamous, or pair-bonded, units.”
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Despite divorce rates rising across the globe in recent years, the study provides a scientific backing to notions such as “romantic idealism” and “natural fidelity.”
Dr Kit Opie from the University of Bristol said the study explains how monogamy among humans arose. “I think this paper gives us a very clear understanding that across time and across space, humans are monogamous,” he told the BBC. “Our society is much closer to chimps and bonobos – it just happens that we’ve taken a different route when it comes to mating.”
At the bottom of Dyble’s “premier league of monogamy”, was the Bottlenose dolphin at 4.1 per
cent, Vervet monkey at 4 per cent, Savannah baboon at 3.7 per cent, Killer whale at 3.3 per cent, Antarctic fur seal at 2.9 per cent, Black bear at 2.6 per cent, Japanese macaque at 2.3 per cent, Rhesus macaque at 1.1 per cent, Celebes crested macaque at 0.8 per cent, and the Soay sheep at a measly 0.6 per cent.