SummaryIn contrast to studies of birds, in mammals there is no clear evidence that polygyny evolved through female choice for males with high quality resources. Among the Kipsigis people of Kenya, polygyny may be a consequence of women's preferences for wealthy men, because strong correlations exist between land ownership and the number of a man's wives (Borgerhoff Mulder 1987 a), and the resources men hold are primary determinants of women's reproductive success (Borgerhoff Mulder 1987b). This paper has two aims: first, to test whether Kipsigis women prefer wealthy men by examining the sequence of marriages among a group of pioneers (Table 1) who established a settlement in the territory of their enemies (1930–1949); second, to determine whether women suffer reproductively as a result of polygynous marriage. Data show that Kipsigis women, or their parents on their behalf, preferentially chose men offering high quality breeding opportunities, with respect to the number of acres available on which to settle (Fig. 2) ; controlling for quality of breeding opportunity there is a preference for bachelors over monogamists over polygynists. Analyses of the full demographic sample show that there are reproductive costs associated with having a large number of cowives (Table 2), costs which women attempt to minimize through judicous marital choices. These results are discussed in relation to resource defence polgyny, female choice and, specifically, the polygyny threshold model.

中文翻译：

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Kipsigis 女性对有钱男性的偏好：哺乳动物中女性选择的证据？

总结与对鸟类的研究相比，在哺乳动物中，没有明确的证据表明一夫多妻制是通过雌性选择具有高质量资源的雄性进化而来的。在肯尼亚的 Kipsigis 人中，一夫多妻制可能是女性偏爱有钱男性的结果，因为土地所有权与男性妻子的数量之间存在很强的相关性（Borgerhoff Mulder 1987 a），而男性拥有的资源是女性的主要决定因素繁殖成功（Borgerhoff Mulder 1987b）。本文有两个目的：首先，通过检查在敌人领土上建立定居点（1930-1949）的一群先驱（表 1）之间的婚姻顺序，来检验 Kipsigis 妇女是否更喜欢富有的男人；第二，确定女性是否因一夫多妻的婚姻而遭受生殖伤害。数据显示，Kipsigis 妇女或代表她们的父母优先选择提供高质量繁殖机会的男性，这取决于可供定居的土地数量（图 2）；控制繁殖机会的质量，单身人士优先于一夫一妻制，而不是一夫多妻制。对完整人口样本的分析表明，拥有大量母牛会产生生殖成本（表 2），女性试图通过明智的婚姻选择将这些成本降至最低。这些结果与资源防御一夫多妻、女性选择，特别是一夫多妻阈值模型有关。控制繁殖机会的质量，单身人士优先于一夫一妻制，而不是一夫多妻制。对完整人口样本的分析表明，拥有大量母牛会产生生殖成本（表 2），女性试图通过明智的婚姻选择将这些成本降至最低。这些结果与资源防御一夫多妻、女性选择，特别是一夫多妻阈值模型有关。控制繁殖机会的质量，单身人士优先于一夫一妻制，而不是一夫多妻制。对完整人口样本的分析表明，拥有大量母牛会产生生殖成本（表 2），女性试图通过明智的婚姻选择将这些成本降至最低。这些结果与资源防御一夫多妻、女性选择，特别是一夫多妻阈值模型有关。