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Origins of Altruism and Cooperation pp 121–143Cite as

Primates, Niche Construction, and Social Complexity: The Roles of Social Cooperation and Altruism

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Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR,volume 36))

Abstract

The explication of altruistic behavior in primates remains complex. Gregarious, socially complex primates are characterized by a diverse array of social behavior patterns with seemingly altruistic behavior being relatively commonplace. Human societies are a form of primate society but with much higher levels of social complexity and extremely high levels of cooperative and apparently altruistic behavior. It is likely that there are elements of primate (at least anthropoid) sociality that act as baseline for subsequent expansion and elaboration during human evolution. Can understanding patterns and contexts of primate social complexity and cooperation help us understand human altruism? In this chapter we have two primary objectives: to examine three nonhuman primate genera to show how social cooperation, social bonding, and niche construction can affect our understandings of altruism and to illustrate where we think that such nonhuman primate information is a good model for humans and where it is not.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Center for International Studies, St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA

    Katherine C. MacKinnon

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556-5611, USA

    Agustín Fuentes

Authors
  1. Katherine C. MacKinnon
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  2. Agustín Fuentes
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Correspondence to Katherine C. MacKinnon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, 63130, Missouri, USA

    Robert W. Sussman

  2. School of Medicine, Dept. Psychiatry, University of Washington, S. Euclid Ave. 660, St. Louis, 63110, Missouri, USA

    C. Robert Cloninger

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MacKinnon, K.C., Fuentes, A. (2011). Primates, Niche Construction, and Social Complexity: The Roles of Social Cooperation and Altruism. In: Sussman, R., Cloninger, C. (eds) Origins of Altruism and Cooperation. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects, vol 36. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9520-9_7

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