ABSTRACT
For the purposes of this chapter, infanticide is defined as the killing of conspecifics during the interval between their conception and wean ing. Among mammals, infanticide benefits the perpetrator either by securing increased mating opportunities or by increasing access to re sources through elimination of competitors (see Introduction to this volume}. This chapter places infanticide in the broader context of mam malian reproduction. In particular, it illustrates how factors that influ ence the sequence or timing of reproductive events also constrain or facilitate the evolution of infanticide. First, the various events compris ing the mammalian reproductive cycle are outlined, and the potential for infanticide at various stages within the cycle is reviewed. Then, intraspecific conflicts (e.g., between sexes or generations) involved in the timing of reproductive events and the duration of reproductive inter vals are examined. Finally, this chapter examines specific evolutionary constraints on a facet of the reproductive cycle, the interbirth interval, which is critical to the evolution of infanticide as a male reproductive strategy (Chapman and Hausfater, 1979).
