TY - JOUR
T1 - The evolution of intergroup tolerance in nonhuman primates and humans
AU - Pisor, Anne C.
AU - Surbeck, Martin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2019/7
Y1 - 2019/7
N2 - Primate individuals use a variety of strategies in intergroup encounters, from aggression to tolerance; however, recent focus on the evolution of either warfare or peace has come at the cost of characterizing this variability. We identify evolutionary advantages that may incentivize tolerance toward extra-group individuals in humans and nonhuman primates, including enhanced benefits in the domains of transfer, mating, and food acquisition. We highlight the role these factors play in the flexibility of gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, and human behavior. Given humans have an especially broad range of intergroup behavior, we explore how the human foraging ecology, especially large spatial and temporal fluctuations in resource availability, may have selected for a greater reliance on tolerant between-community relationships—relationships reinforced by status acquisition and cultural institutions. We conclude by urging careful, theoretically motivated study of behavioral flexibility in intergroup encounters in humans and the nonhuman great apes.
AB - Primate individuals use a variety of strategies in intergroup encounters, from aggression to tolerance; however, recent focus on the evolution of either warfare or peace has come at the cost of characterizing this variability. We identify evolutionary advantages that may incentivize tolerance toward extra-group individuals in humans and nonhuman primates, including enhanced benefits in the domains of transfer, mating, and food acquisition. We highlight the role these factors play in the flexibility of gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, and human behavior. Given humans have an especially broad range of intergroup behavior, we explore how the human foraging ecology, especially large spatial and temporal fluctuations in resource availability, may have selected for a greater reliance on tolerant between-community relationships—relationships reinforced by status acquisition and cultural institutions. We conclude by urging careful, theoretically motivated study of behavioral flexibility in intergroup encounters in humans and the nonhuman great apes.
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U2 - 10.1002/evan.21793
DO - 10.1002/evan.21793
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31386248
AN - SCOPUS:85070636837
SN - 1060-1538
VL - 28
SP - 210
EP - 223
JO - Evolutionary anthropology
JF - Evolutionary anthropology
IS - 4
ER -