EEB 4329 Lecture 8: Primate Socioecology II
7 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Widespread view in animal behavior through the 70s. Animals doing something for the good of the species. People are viewed as naturally group-oriented, acting selfishly only when socialized to do so (capitalism. Group selection maybe as a mechanism for the evolution of human morality. Animal dispersion in relation to social behavior (1962) Swifts can lay a lot of eggs if you remove the eggs. Wynne edwards argued fewer eggs is good for species. There is a problem in that argument though. Wynne edwards assumed that the probability of survival to clutch size were of each other. They aren"t- increased clutch is too many mouths to feed. So, swifts are laying the optimal amount of size. So, group selection is a subset of kin selection. Female reproductive success depends on how quickly they can turn food into babies. Male reproductive success depends on access to fertilizable females. Wrangham takes this idea and applies it to primate systems- way to go rich.
