Synopses & Reviews
For over 25 years, primatologists have speculated that intelligence, at least in monkeys and apes, evolved as an adaptation to the complicated social milieu of hard-won friendships and bitterly contested rivalries. Yet the Balkanization of animal research has prevented us from studying the same problem in other large-brained, long-lived animals, such as hyenas and elephants, bats and sperm whales. Social complexity turns out to be widespread indeed. For example, in many animal societies one individual's innovation, such as tool use or a hunting technique, may spread within the group, thus creating a distinct culture. As this collection of studies on a wide range of species shows, animals develop a great variety of traditions, which in turn affect fitness and survival.
The editors argue that future research into complex animal societies and intelligence will change the perception of animals as gene machines, programmed to act in particular ways and perhaps elevate them to a status much closer to our own. At a time when humans are perceived more biologically than ever before, and animals as more cultural, are we about to witness the dawn of a truly unified social science, one with a distinctly cross-specific perspective?
Review
"This book is pure gold. It takes a broad view of the fashionable and indeed, perpetually interesting question how animal intelligence relates to social behavior. The contents range from sperm whales to starlings, elephants' treatment of a dead calf, and chimpanzees' use of different barks to identify different kinds of food. From it all emerges the current state of thinking on animal imitation, semantics, and the meaning and origins of culture." Alison Jolly, author of Lucy's Legacy
Synopsis
For over 25 years, primatologists have speculated that intelligence, at least in monkeys and apes, evolved as an adaptation to the complicated social milieu of hard-won friendships and bitterly contested rivalries. Yet the Balkanization of animal research has prevented us from studying the same problem in other large-brained, long-lived animals, such as hyenas and elephants, bats and sperm whales. Social complexity turns out to be widespread indeed. For example, in many animal societies one individual's innovation, such as tool use or a hunting technique, may spread within the group, thus creating a distinct culture. As this collection of studies on a wide range of species shows, animals develop a great variety of traditions, which in turn affect fitness and survival. <>
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 495-593).
Synopsis
The editors of this volume argue that future research into complex animalsocieties and intelligence will change the perception of animals as gene machines, programmed toact in particular ways and perhaps elevate them to a status much closer to our own. At a timewhen humans are perceived more biologically than ever before, and animals as more cultural, arewe about to witness the dawn of a truly unified social science, one with a distinctlycross-specific perspective?
About the Author
Frans B. M. de Waal is C. H. Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Psychology Department, and Director of Living Links, part of the Yerkes Primate Center, Emory University.
Table of Contents
Preface
Part I. Life History and Brain Evolution
1. Life History and Cognitive Evolution in Primates
Carel P. van Schaik and Robert O. Deaner
Case Study 1A. Sociality and Disease Risk: A Comparative Study of Leukocyte Counts in Primates
Charles L. Nunn
2. Dolphin Social Complexity: Lessons from Long-Term Study and Life History
Randall S. Wells
3. Sources of Social Complexity in the Three Elephant Species
Katy Payne
Part II. Evolution of Cooperative Strategies
4. Complex Cooperation among Taï Chimpanzees
Christophe Boesch
Case Study 4A. Coalitionary Aggression in White-Faced Capuchins
Susan Perry
Case Study 4B. Levels and Patterns in Dolphin Alliance Formation
Richard C. Connor and Michael Krützen
5. The Social Complexity of Spotted Hyenas
Christine M. Drea and Laurence G. Frank
Case Study 5A. Maternal Rank "Inheritance" in the Spotted Hyena
Anne Engh and Kay E. Holekamp
6. Is Social Stress a Consequence of Subordination or a Cost of Dominance?
Scott Creel and Jennifer L. Sands
Case Study 6A. Sperm Whale Social Structure: Why It Takes a Village to Raise a Child
Sarah L. Mesnick, Karen Evans, Barbara L. Taylor, John Hyde, Sergio Escorza-Treviño, and Andrew E. Dizon
Part III. Social Cognition
7. Equivalence Classification as an Approach to Social Knowledge: From Sea Lions to Simians
Ronald J. Schusterman, Colleen Reichmuth Kastak, and David Kastak
8. The Structure of Social Knowledge in Monkeys
Robert M. Seyfarth and Dorothy L. Cheney
9. Social Syntax: The If-Then Structure of Social Problem Solving
Frans B. M. de Waal
Case Study 9A. Conflict Resolution in the Spotted Hyena
Sofia A. Wahaj and Kay E. Holekamp
Part IV. Communication
10. Laughter and Smiling: The Intertwining of Nature and Culture
Jan A. R. A. M. van Hooff and Signe Preuschoft
Case Study 10A. Emotional Recognition by Chimpanzees
Lisa A. Parr
11. Vocal Communication in Wild Parrots
Jack W. Bradbury
Case Study 11A. Representational Vocal Signaling in the Chimpanzee
Karen I. Hallberg, Douglas A. Nelson, and Sarah T. Boysen
12. Social and Vocal Complexity in Bats
Gerald S. Wilkinson
13. Dolphins Communicate about Individual-Specific Social Relationships
Peter L. Tyack
Case Study 13A. Natural Semanticity in Wild Primates
Klaus Zuberbühler
Part V. Cultural Transmission
14. Koshima Monkeys and Bossou Chimpanzees: Long-Term Research on Culture in Nonhuman Primates
Tetsuro Matsuzawa
Case Study 14A. Movement Imitation in Monkeys
Bernhard Voelkl and Ludwig Huber
15. Individuality and Flexibility of Cultural Behavior Patterns in Chimpanzees
Toshisada Nishida
Case Study 15A. Sex Differences in Termite Fishing among Gombe Chimpanzees
Stephanie S. Pandolfi, Carel P. van Schaik, and Anne E. Pusey
16. Ten Dispatches from the Chimpanzee Culture Wars
W. C. McGrew
Case Study 16A. Spontaneous Use of Tools by Semifree-ranging Capuchin Monkeys
Eduardo B. Ottoni and Massimo Mannu
17. Society and Culture in the Deep and Open Ocean: The Sperm Whale and Other Cetaceans
Hal Whitehead
Case Study 17A. Do Killer Whales Have Culture?
Harald Yurk
18. Discovering Culture in Birds: The Role of Learning and Development
Meredith J. West, Andrew P. King, and David J. White
References
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Index