In modern society, the birth of an infant is a highly demanding time during a woman’s lifetime. The infant is need of diligent care, feeding, and teaching to reach full adulthood and self-dependence. However, for human’s fellow primates in the wild, their infants are subjected to dangers from intergroup violence, starvation, or environmental dangers that their mother can not always protect them from. For the ancestral hominids and primates, the act of grandmothering, attending to the needs of child other than your own, became an essential behavior for the evolution of the modern human and other primates. I predict that the act of grandmothering permitted the expansion of individual lifespans after fertility for female primates and their relative …show more content…
The model is based on the lifespans of modern chimpanzees that have been lengthened to similar ranges of the modern human lifespan. Their simulation concluded that initially, the presence of grandmothering individuals presented little change in the group as grandmothers could only care for one dependent or child at a time with no preference for their daughter’s children. However, after the simulation ran for thousands of years, the birthing-intervals became steady and constant which proportionately increased the need for more alloparenting. This occurred because mothers were able to produce more offspring when grandmothers within the group provisioned for those infants. Furthermore, the grandmothers spent significant energy in doing which the younger mothers were able to spend in reproduction. Due to the grandmothers infertility, their energy was not spent on finding mates or childbearing and was used in provisioning for other infants. Importantly, this simulation discredited the effects of larger brains, hunting, skill learning, or pair bonds that separate modern humans from the great apes. Without these significant features, the simulation still concluded that a very weak or small grandmothering system within a group can be advantageous enough to expand lifespans from the range of modern great apes to modern humans (Kim …show more content…
Kristen Hawkes claims that “the grandmother hypothesis an ancestral shift away from the independent mothering of the great apes...when drying environments reduced the availability of foods that just-weaned juveniles could handle” (Hawkes, 2016). During this vulnerable time, the presences of females past their reproducing years saved the infants by providing for them which enabled the younger mothers to birth and care for another, effectively increasing the survivability of the species as a whole. While there are modern primates who continue to practice independent mothering, the course of primate evolution was forever changed by the act of grandmother ifn and
Dr. Goodall is a well-known British primatologist who has discovered a substantial amount about primates in her many years of research. She has written numerous books, including one that we will be going into depth about called, “Through a Window.” Her book contains personal experiences, research findings, and even pictures to help the readers visualize her scientific breaking moments from her thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe. She states that there is are minor differences, and several similarities between humans and the chimpanzees. We will discuss these differences and similarities through their social behavior, intellectual ability, and emotions. To conclude, examine Goodall’s research to adopt what her findings can tell us about our early ancestors, and whether or not her study coincided to the steps of scientific methodology.
As stated in the article, “each ape’s social success depends on what other group members are up to, natural selection has favored the capacity for social maneuvers and [superior intelligence]” (2). Natural selection also favors apes because they are not ones to dwell or hold grudges on other apes when they get into feuds. Frans de Waal, a primatologist at the Arnheim Zoo in the Netherlands, shows how natural selection has also promoted the ability to strengthen the relationships of others. In his example, he gives an account of Mama, the most influential female in the colony, who would reconcile other apes after they got into
I observed chimpanzees in the Kimberly-Clark Chimpanzee Forest exhibit at the Dallas zoo. These African apes, like humans, are hominoids and fall into the larger category of catarrhines. Their scientific classification is Pan troglodytes. There were about ten chimpanzees in that habitat. Most of them were grown adults, except two children. They were robust and had black fur. The average weight of the chimps was listed on a display to be about 115 pounds.
A Primate’s Memoir, written by Robert Sapolsky, documents the author’s time in Kenya while he studied the various behaviors of a troop of baboons. One of the key aspects of the book was the social rank that developed within the troop. Female baboons have a social hierarchy that is fairly cut and dry. The eldest baboons in the troop are considered the higher-ranking females, and as the baboons get younger, so to follows the string of dominance. The ranking for males was essentially from the strongest baboons to the weakest baboons. The baboon at the top of the social hierarchy was considered the alpha male. This social rank has huge implications for the troop in regards to which baboons mated with each other. If another baboon wanted to become the alpha male, then he would have to challenge the current alpha male to a fight, and win. The baboon’s distinct personality mixed with their instincts are the primary factors for where one lands on the social hierarchy. Another key aspect of the book was the strategies that took place when the baboons wanted to mate with another baboon. Similar to humans, the baboon males tried to impress the female baboons in a way that would make them want to mate. The rank of the male is considered to be one of the greatest factors contributing to what mate they end up with, because there is nothing more impressive than becoming a high-ranking baboon. Also, there were instances of lower-ranking baboons strategizing and forming teams with other baboons to become a higher ranking baboon for the mating possibilities. The baboons in the group are considered a patch-work of different troops, as it is common for one baboon to move to different groups frequently.
Around 1.8 million years ago, two hominids were born, first the Homo Erectus and then the Neanderthals. Although the two very different humans. However, were they that different? Our ancestors were very versatile hominids. They lived in various places and lived in a variety of ways. The Homo Erectus and Neanderthals were all special in their ways. They had similarities and differences that set them apart. They had similarities, but in the same way, their differences helped them survive if they had not adapted to how they lived they would have lasted the same time that their ancestors have lived. The Neanderthals lived for an average lifespan 30 years. They had to have some mistake that decreased their lifespan because if the Homo Erectus had done the same, there’s a chance that we might not be here now. Their differences set the future that we live in today. These
Broad, K.D, J.P Curley, and E.B Keverne. "Mother–infant Bonding and the Evolution of Mammalian Social Relationships." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society, 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
During the twentieth century, Harry Harlow performed one of the most controversial experiments that led to a scientific breakthrough concerning the parent-child relationship. It paved the way for understanding terms such as secure, insecure, ambivalent, and disorganized relationships (Bernstein, 2014, 364). During the course of this study, Harlow separated baby monkeys from their birth mothers and isolated them in frightening environments. According to the video “H.H. Overview”, this proved the monkey’s preference for a comforting mother versus a nutritional one. However, this raises the question: can his experiments be deemed ethical, or did his scientific inquiry overstep boundaries?
Do non-human primates have communication, language, both, or neither? By definition, communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information (Snowdon). Communication is very closely related to social behavior since they are both referring to the ways animals interact with each other (Quiatt and Reynolds 1993). Conversely, language is defined as a system of communication using sounds or gestures that are put together in meaningful ways according to a set of rules (Haviland et al. 2010). Non-human primates and human primates are similar in many ways, and communication is no exception. They both have various types of communication senses and styles. Human primate communication senses consist of sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Non-human primates mainly understand the world through sight, but smell, taste, and hearing are important as well (Quiatt and Reynolds 1993). Human primates are capable of speaking a language, while non-human primates use different vocal calls to communicate. In essence, the difference is simple, human primates have language while non-human primates do not. Even though non-human primates do not have language, they do have communication.
Our earliest ancestors are primates. They are our closest relatives which is why we can see our behavior’s and practices in them. If we observe them we can get a better understanding of them and us, human beings. But unfortunately we all don’t get the chance to see a Primate right in our backdoor. So the best thing I could do for my observation was to visit them at the zoo.
...r members of the animal kingdom, humans have not evolved any longer with such strong maternal instinct. Nurseries probably trapped and imprisoned many a young mother who listened to society and did what she thought she was supposed to. And once they got there, maybe they realized it was not how they wanted to live their life. Yet, they could not abandon their families and children, and so they were trapped by the cradle, the toys, the bottles, the nursery.
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
The paper Total social isolation in monkeys by Dodsworth, Harlow, & Harlow (1965), likens rhesus monkeys to children as parallels exist between the social development of humans and monkeys. The study kept infant rhesus monkeys in total isolation therefore depriving them completely of any caregiver and possibility of attachment, mimicking children in orphanages, or children suffering from emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Though no monkeys died during isolation, a monkey that had been isolated for 3 months developed emotional anorexia and refused to eat subsequently dying. While the effects of total social isolation from birth was severely deleterious, rhesus monkeys that had been socially isolated from birth showed no social skills such as play, aggression or sexual behavior, though instead high levels of fear in social situations. Harlow however observed that though the social or emotional brain had been obliterated, the intellectual portion seemed to be intact. Suomi and Harlow (1972) also found th...
Since the beginning of time, mankind began to expand on traditions of life out of which family and societal life surfaced. These traditions of life have been passed down over generations and centuries. Some of these kin and their interdependent ways of life have been upheld among particular people, and are known to contain key pieces of some civilizations.
Lingenfelter, S.. (1985). [Review of A Critique of the Study of Kinship]. American Ethnologist, 12(2), 372–374. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/644228
A change in the parental care of the offspring can create vulnerability toward future stressful events. In the reverse, developmental stress can affect the mate choice behaviour in mature species (Woodgate, Bennett, Leitner, Catchpole, & Buchanan, 2010). Manning and Lamb (2003) examined the importance of formal marital status in humans. Zebra finches and humans are both biparental animals that depend on reliable and consistent parental care for the development of offspring (Manning & Lamb, 2003). Amirkhanyan and Wolf (2006) found that males and females with parents who needed care had higher rates of depression versus parents who could take care of themselves. These studies show how early changes in a child’s life can create a vulnerability to unhappiness and stress in future events. This information is also transferable to other animals that are biparentally raised. A species that is biparentally raised and reacts to changes in parental care are zebra