Comparative Primate Socioecology

Draws together exciting new and controversial findings from field research on a wide variety of primates including humans.

P. C. Lee (Edited by)

9780521004244, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 July 2001

424 pages, 46 line figures 52 tables
22.5 x 15.3 x 2.8 cm, 0.662 kg

‘… an up-to-date and stimulating overview of comparative perspectives on primate socioecology. any primatologist hoping to carry out comparative analyses on their data should find this book an invaluable resource.’ Primate Eye

Comparative studies have become both more frequent and more important as a means for understanding the biology, behaviour and evolution of mammals. Primates have complex social relationships and diverse ecologies, and represent a large species radiation. This book draws together a wide range of experts from fields as diverse as reproductive biology and foraging energetics to place recent field research into a synthetic perspective. The chapters tackle controversial issues in primate biology and behaviour, including the role of brain expansion and infanticide in the evolution of primate behavioural strategies. The book also presents an overview of comparative methodologies as applied to recent primate research which will provide new approaches to comparative research. It will be of particular interest to primatologists, behavioural ecologists and those interested in the evolution of human social behaviour.

Preface
Part I. Comparative Methods: 1. The comparative method: principles and illustrations from primate socioecology A. MacLarnon
2. Cladistics as a tool in comparative analysis K. Robson-Brown
3. Phylogenetically independent comparisons and primate phylogeny A. Purvis and A. J. Webster
Part II. Comparative Life History and Biology: 4. Socioecology and the evolution of primate reproductive rates C. Ross
5. Comparative ecology of post-natal growth and weaning among haplorhine primates P. C. Lee
6. Some current ideas about the evolution of the human life history N. Blurton-Jones, K. Hawkes and J. O’Connell
7. The evolutionary ecology of the primate brain R. Barton
8. Sex and social evolution in primates C. van Schaik, M. A. van Noordwijk and C. L. Nunn
9. Mating system, intrasexual competition and sexual dimorphism in primates J. M. Plavcan
Part III. Comparative Socioecology and Social Evolution: 10. Lemur social structure and convergence in primate socioecology P. Kappeler
11. Why is female kin bonding so rare?: comparative sociality of neotropical primates K. Strier
12. Energetics, time budgets and group size D. Williamson and R. Dunbar
13. Ecology of sex differences in great ape foraging A. Bean
14. The evolution of human behaviour and adaptation: missing links in comparative primate socioecology R. A. Foley
15. Evolutionary ecology and cross-cultural comparison: the case of matrilineal descent in Sub-Saharan Africa R. Mace and C. Holden
Conclusion: socioecology and social evolution P. C. Lee
Index.

Subject Areas: Anthropology [JHM]