Abstract
Ritual fights are widespread across human populations. However, theevolutionary advantage associated with this behaviour is unclear becausethese fights rarely provide direct benefits such as territory, resources or mates.Here, the reproductive success of men competing in a traditional ritual fight,Sereer wrestling, was investigated for the first time. Involvement in wrestlinghad a significant positive effect on men’s number of offspring and a marginallysignificant effect on polygyny, controlling for age, body condition and socio-economic status. These positive effects suggest that being involved in wrestlingcompetition provides prestige, facilitating access to mates and therebyincreasing fecundity. However, when women were interviewed on theirpreference concerning qualities of potential mates, the quality ‘being involvedin wrestling competition’ was poorly ranked. This discrepancy may arise eitherfrom deceptive reports or from discordance between parents and daughters inthe choice of a husband.