The influence of kin relationship and reciprocal context on chimpanzees’ other-regarding preferences
We investigated the evolutionary origin of other-regarding preferences, one of the strong underlying motivations for altruism, in the chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes. Although altruism is expected theoretically to be kin biased and frequent in a reciprocal context, few experimental studies to date have specifically tested these hypotheses from the viewpoint of proximate mechanisms. We examined the […]
Long-term dominance relationships in female mountain gorillas: strength, stability and determinants of rank
A common practice in studies of social animals is to rank individuals according to dominance status, which has been shown to influence access to limited resources and stability of social relationships, and may in turn correlate with reproductive success. According to the socioecological model for primates, most female dominance relationships are either nepotistic or virtually […]