The timing and causes of a unique chimpanzee community fission preceding Gombe's “Four‐Year War”

Feldblum, Joseph T.; Manfredi, Sofia; Gilby, Ian C.; Pusey, Anne E.

doi:10.1002/ajpa.23462

Cited by 27 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 123 publications

(162 reference statements)

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“…Only two Pan community splits have been observed: a split of a bonobo community at Wamba (a side observation by Furuichi 1987) and one of a chimpanzee group at Gombe (Goodall 1986). In both cases, the process unfolded on a decadal time scale, and is only now beginning to be studied in detail (using Goodall's field notes; Feldblum et al 2018). An analysis of the ages of chimpanzee communities suggests that the period of these fission events fall in a range between several centuries to millennia (Langergraber et al 2014).…”

Section: Community Lifecycle and "The Social Protocell"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a Macroevolutionary Theory of Human Evolution: The Social Protocell

Andersson

Törnberg

2018

Biol Theory

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Despite remarkable empirical and methodological advances, our theoretical understanding of the evolutionary processes that made us human remains fragmented and contentious. Here, we make the radical proposition that the cultural communities within which Homo emerged may be understood as a novel exotic form of organism. The argument begins from a deep congruence between robust features of Pan community life cycles and protocell models of the origins of life. We argue that if a cultural tradition, meeting certain requirements, arises in the context of such a "social protocell," the outcome will be an evolutionary transition in individuality whereby traditions and hominins coalesce into a macroscopic bio-socio-technical system, with an organismal organization that is culturally inherited through irreversible fission events on the community level. We refer to the resulting hypothetical evolutionary individual as a "sociont." The social protocell provides a preadapted source of alignment of fitness interests that addresses a number of open questions about the origins of shared adaptive cultural organization, and the derived genetic (and highly unusual) adaptations that support them. Also, social cooperation between hominins is no longer in exclusive focus since cooperation among traditions becomes salient in this model. This provides novel avenues for explanation. We go on to hypothesize that the fate of the hominin in such a setting would be mutualistic coadaptation into a part-whole relation with the sociont, and we propose that the unusual suite of derived features in Homo is consistent with this hypothesis.

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Section: Community Lifecycle and "The Social Protocell"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a Macroevolutionary Theory of Human Evolution: The Social Protocell

Andersson

Törnberg

2018

Biol Theory

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“…c 'Contests' refers to the characteristics of actual interactions between conspecific rivals. In chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), e.g., violent between-group contests can have dramatic consequences for social evolution 100 . Chimpanzee photograph: L. Samuni.…”

Section: Testing Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions with conspecific outsiders as drivers of cognitive evolution

2020

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The social intelligence hypothesis (SIH) posits that within-group interactions drive cognitive evolution, but it has received equivocal support. We argue the SIH overlooks a major component of social life: interactions with conspecific outsiders. Competition for vital resources means conspecific outsiders present myriad threats and opportunities in all animal taxa across the social spectrum (from individuals to groups). We detail cognitive challenges generated by conspecific outsiders, arguing these select for ‘Napoleonic’ intelligence; explain potential influences on the SIH; and highlight important considerations when empirically testing these ideas. Including interactions with conspecific outsiders may substantially improve our understanding of cognitive evolution.

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“…Feldblum et al. () revisited Gombe chimpanzee data collected between 1971 and 1972, finding evidence that male‐biased sex ratios, dominance struggles, and insipient alliances preceded a famous group fission and resulting “four‐year war” at the site. Analyzing more than twenty years of chimpanzee demographic data at Ngogo, Wood et al.…”

Section: New Discoveries From Old Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Anthropology in 2018: Grounded in Theory, Questioning Contexts, Embracing Innovation

Martin

2019

American Anthropologist

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Biological anthropology in 2018 encapsulated what past scholars envisioned for its future: a multidisciplinary approach to understanding human and nonhuman primate evolution and diversity using the most innovative techniques and rigorous standards available. This year also built on a tradition of introspection about what biological anthropology encompasses and by whom and how it is conducted. This review highlights research and movements in the field that reflect both of these pursuits. Studies drew on evolutionary theory to generate novel insights into human and nonhuman primate biology, behavior, and organization. Studies on hominin evolution and human biology have upended previous understandings by revealing more dynamic and context-dependent processes in our ancestry and phenotypic expressions. Across subdisciplines, biological anthropologists have advanced the use of new technologies and analytical techniques and begun to promote open, transparent, and reproducible science among a more diverse community of researchers. [year in review, evolutionary anthropology, context and variation, emerging technologies, transparent methods, researcher diversity] RESUMEN La biología antropológica en 2018 encapsuló lo que investigadores anteriores imaginaron para su futuro:una aproximación multidisciplinaria para entender la evolución de primates humanos y no humanos y diversidad utilizando las técnicas más innovadoras y los estándares rigurosos disponibles. Este año también desarrolló sobre una tradición de introspección acerca de lo que la antropología biológica abarca y por quién y cómo es llevada a cabo. Esta revisión resalta la investigación y los movimientos en el campo que reflejan estas búsquedas. Los estudios se basaron en la teoría evolucionaria para generar nuevos conocimientos en la biología de primates humanos y no humanos, comportamiento y organización. Los estudios sobre la evolución de los homíninos y la biología humana han cambiado drásticamente entendimientos previos al revelar procesos más dinámicos y dependientes del contexto en nuestra ascendencia y expresiones fenotípicas. A través de las subdisciplinas, los antropólogos biológicos han avanzado el uso de nuevas tecnologías y técnicas analíticas y empezado a promover una ciencia abierta, transparente y reproducible entre una comunidad más diversa de investigadores. [año en revisión, antropología evolucionaria, contexto y variación, tecnologías emergentes, métodos transparentes, diversidad de investigadores] T he history of biological anthropology has been underscored by attempts to properly situate the field in relation to other natural sciences and the discipline of anthropology as a whole (e.g., Calcagno

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The timing and causes of a unique chimpanzee community fission preceding Gombe's “Four‐Year War”

Cited by 27 publications

References 123 publications

Toward a Macroevolutionary Theory of Human Evolution: The Social Protocell

Toward a Macroevolutionary Theory of Human Evolution: The Social Protocell

Interactions with conspecific outsiders as drivers of cognitive evolution

Biological Anthropology in 2018: Grounded in Theory, Questioning Contexts, Embracing Innovation

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