To what extent is it feasible for this race to be majority female?

In my world there is a race of humans who are disproportionately female. They are closely derived from and very similar to real-world humans, but are unable to interbreed with the other races as they are too genetically distinct to produce fertile hybrids. They do not reproduce themselves asexually, but rather all the permitted females in a tribe mate with one or a few males, because very few males are even born.

The culture is built in no small part from the premise that the vast majority of its people are women, but I want to know just how few males this species can get away with, considering they are genetically isolated and every generation faces a serious potential bottleneck effect.

I guessed with gut instinct that one male per hundred females would work, but I'm afraid that's a bit too conservative; for a stronger narrative and more spectacle, I'd also like to know if 1/1,000 would work. For context, the species as a whole probably has a population of between 5-10 million, and are heavily maritime so all tribes have access to each other.

posted about 5 years ago

Maddock Emerson‭

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