AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Polygamy consists of any mating system where a female or a male mates with two or more members of the opposite sex. There are two major types of polygamy. Polygyny involves individual males mating with multiple females. Polyandry involves individual females mating with two or more males.

Detailed explanation-2: -Polygamy usually takes the form of polygyny – when a man marries multiple women. Polyandry, which refers to wives having more than one husband, is even rarer than polygamy and mostly documented among small and relatively isolated communities around the world.

Detailed explanation-3: -Anthropologically, polygamy is defined as marriage between one person and two or more spouses simultaneously. It exists in two main forms: polygyny, where one man is married to several women, and polyandry, where one woman is married to several men.

Detailed explanation-4: -In societies that practice polygamy, the specific type is polygyny, which is having more than one wife (polyandrous unions, of having more than one husband, are much less common). Muslim societies allow for up to four wives, but not without specific rules and regulations.

Detailed explanation-5: -Monogamy refers to the marriage of two people at a time – historically one husband and one wife. Polygamy is the marriage of either a husband to multiple wives or a wife to multiple husbands. Polygyny is the marriage of one man to multiple women, while polyandry is the marriage of multiple men to one woman.