Document Detail


The relative roles of kinship and reciprocity in explaining primate altruism.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19840082     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of altruistic behaviours. Their relative roles in explaining actual cases of animal altruism are, however, unclear. In particular, while kin selection is widely believed to have a pervasive influence on animal behaviour, reciprocity is generally thought to be rare. Despite this general agreement, there has been no direct test comparing the relative roles of kinship and reciprocity in explaining animal altruism. In this paper, we report on the results of such a test based on a meta-analysis of allogrooming in primates, grooming being probably the most common altruistic behaviour among mammals. In direct contrast to the prevailing view, reciprocity played a much larger role than kinship in explaining primate allogrooming. These results point to a more significant role of reciprocity in the evolution of animal altruism than is generally acknowledged.
Authors:
Gabriele Schino; Filippo Aureli
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Meta-Analysis; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2009-10-12
Journal Detail:
Title:  Ecology letters     Volume:  13     ISSN:  1461-0248     ISO Abbreviation:  Ecol. Lett.     Publication Date:  2010 Jan 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-01-26     Completed Date:  2010-03-23     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101121949     Medline TA:  Ecol Lett     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  45-50     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 00197 Rome, Italy. gabriele.schino@enea.it
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Altruism*
Animals
Evolution*
Female
Foster Home Care*
Grooming
Primates / psychology*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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