polygamy (poligami)

[Formerly polyga mie, poligamy 2. In zoöl., the practice or habit of having more than one mate of the opposite sex; polyandry or polygyny. In mammals, polygamy is the rule with pinniped and various other carnivorous quadrupeds, with hoofed quadrupeds in general, and in many other groups, especially in its polygynous form. In the cla of birds, where monogamy is the rule, polygamy is conspicuous in the rasorial or gallinaceous order, and is exceptionally witne ed in some members of the monoga mous orders, as in the cowbirds and cuckoos among pa erine and picarian birds.