Skip to main content
Scientific American
  • Cart 0
  • Forgot password?Loading
    Not yet registered?
  • |Newsletters
Advanced Search
  • Coronavirus
  • Health
  • Mind & Brain
  • Environment
  • Technology
  • Space & Physics
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Store
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Cart0
  • Sign In
  • Newsletters
      • Share
      • Latest

      Love for Life? 12 Animals That Are (Mostly) Monogamous [Slide Show]

      Is monogamy a myth even in the animal kingdom? Not necessarily. A look at animals that are said to pair off for life

      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Reddit
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share via Email
      • Print
      Love for Life? 12 Animals That Are (Mostly) Monogamous [Slide Show]
      Slideshow (12) images
      View
      Credits: Wikimedia Commons/Matthias Kabel

      Love for Life? 12 Animals That Are (Mostly) Monogamous [Slide Show]

        • Share
      • Humans Are we humans ( Homo sapiens ) set up to be set up for life? Well, it's complicated. One study found evidence that women pass along more genetic information to their offspring, suggesting that for much of our evolutionary history, men were fathering children with more than one woman... iStockphoto/DenisZbukarev
      • Lar gibbon One of the only primate examples of monogamy, Lar gibbons (or white-handed gibbons, Hylobates lar ) have long been documented living in close-knit families. The coupled male and female will spend time grooming each other and (literally) hanging out together in the trees... Wikimedia Commons/MatthiasKabel
      • Mute swan Swans swimming beak to beak have become a common symbol of mate-for-life dedication. The males often help in nest-building and egg-incubating, and pairs often return to the same nest year after year... Wikimedia Commons/Jonas Lindstrom
      • Malagasy giant rat These big-eared rodents are hardly sneaky when it comes to love. Malagasy giant rats ( Hypogeomys antimena ), which reside in a small area of Madagascar, are one of the few monogamous rodent species out there... Wikimedia Commons/Tom Junek
      • Advertisement
      • Waved albatross Albatrosses are famous both for their flirtatiousness—taking the form of ritualized mating dances—and for their fidelity. Most settle down with a single mate for life, which can mean decades... Wikimedia Commons/Barfbagger
      • California mouse The California mouse's scientific name— Peromyscus californicus —might make it sound a little, well, promiscuous. But science saysthey are actually pretty strictly committed... Flickr/PeroMHC
      • Black vultures These ominous birds ( Coragyps atratus ) seem to be deeply serious about their chosen mates. The two hang out together year-round and share parenting duties, creating a close-knit familial unit... Wikimedia Commons/DickClarkMises
      • Shingleback skink The shingleback skink ( Tiliqua rugosa) is an armored lizard that usually pairs off with the same mate each season to make some little lizard babies. The female gives birth to live young, and the male sticks around to keep watch for danger... Wikimedia Commons/Coojah
      • Advertisement
      • Sandhill Crane The stately sandhill crane ( Grus canadensis ) has long been a symbol of mate-for-life monogamy. Pairs can be heard "unison calling" together: they stand close and "kar-roo" out similar, synchronized notes, which is thought to be a bonding activity... Wikimedia Commons/birdphotos.com
      • Prairie voles The small, burrowing prairie vole ( Microtus ochrogaster ) is practically a paragon of faithfulness—at least enough so for scientists to use them as models of monogamy in the lab... Smithsonian/Roger Barbour
      • Convict cichlid Despite its inauspicious name, the convict cichlid ( Amatitlania nigrofasciata ) fish is quite a considerate mate and parent. This freshwater fish pairs off with a mate in a crevasse they can call their own... Wikimedia Commons/S. Olkowicz
      • Kirk's Dik-dik The doe-eyed does of these dainty African antelope seem to be able to hook their mate's heart for the long haul. Kirk's Dik-dik ( Madoqua kirkii ) roam in tightly bonded pairs and rarely stray from one another, socially or sexually... Wikimedia Commons/Falense
      • Advertisement
      • Previous
      • Next
      of
      • View all
      • Link copied!
      • Humans
      • Lar gibbon
      • Mute swan
      • Malagasy giant rat
      • Waved albatross
      • California mouse
      • Black vultures
      • Shingleback skink
      • Sandhill Crane
      • Prairie voles
      • Convict cichlid
      • Kirk's Dik-dik
      Advertisement
      Advertisement

      Newsletter

      Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter.

      Sign Up

      Support Science Journalism

      Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners.

      Subscribe Now!Support Science Journalism

      Follow us

      • instagram
      • soundcloud
      • youtube
      • twitter
      • facebook
      • rss

      Scientific american arabic

      العربية
      • Return & Refund Policy
      • About
      • Press Room
      • FAQs
      • Contact Us
      • Site Map
      • Advertise
      • SA Custom Media
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • California Consumer Privacy Statement
      • Use of cookies/Do not sell my data
      • International Editions
      Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

      © 2022 Scientific American, a Division of Springer Nature America, Inc.

      All Rights Reserved.

      Scroll To Top

      Support science journalism.

      Scientific American paper issue and on tablet

      Thanks for reading Scientific American. Knowledge awaits.

      Already a subscriber? Sign in.

      Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue.

      Create Account

      See Subscription Options

      Continue reading with a Scientific American subscription.

      You may cancel at any time.

      Sign in.