Meerkats, as well as humans, are part of what researchers called a "premier league" of monogamy. Martin Schutt/dpa/AFP/Getty Images

Humans are far more monogamous than our primate cousins, but less so than beavers, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England analyzed the proportion of full siblings versus half-siblings across several animal species, as well as various human populations throughout history.

Species and societies that are more monogamous tend to have a greater number of siblings that share both parents, while those that are polygamous or promiscuous produce more half-siblings.

The team of scientists led by Mark Dyble, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, used a computational model and sibling data produced by

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