Primate Paradigms: Sex Roles and Social Bonds

Front Cover
University of Chicago Press, 1992 - Science - 386 pages
This critical review of behavior patterns in nonhuman primates is an excellent study of the importance of female roles in different social groups and their significance in the evolution of human social life.

"A book that properly illuminates in rich detail not only developmental and socioecological aspects of primate behavior but also how and why certain questions are asked. In addition, the book frequently focuses on insufficiently answered questions, especially those concerned with the evolution of primate sex differences. Fedigan's book is unique . . . because it places primate adaptations and our explanation of those patterns in a larger intellectual framework that is easily and appropriately connected to many lines of research in different fields (sociology, psychology, anthropology, neurobiology, endocrinology, and biology)—and not in inconsequential ways, either."—James McKenna, American Journal of Primatology

"This is the feminist critique of theories of primate and human evolution."—John H. Cook, Nature
 

Contents

Primate Behavior and the Comparative Method
4
An Introduction to the Order Primates
8
WORDS
13
Definition Metaphors and Analogies
16
Language and the Study of Sex Roles
20
INSTINCT INNATE AND LEARNED BEHAVIOR
25
PRIMATE SOCIETIES
37
Terms
38
Ovariectomies
156
Male Castration Testosterone and Behavior
161
Prenatal Hormone Alterations
163
Androgens and the Brain
169
A False Dichotomy
170
ONTOGENY AND SOCIALIZATION
173
Definitions of Socialization
174
Sex Differences and Other Differences
175

Taxonomies of Primate Social Systems
40
Some Causal Factors in Social Variability
43
Natural Social Behavior and the Sources of Stability and Change
44
SEXUAL DIMORPHISM
49
Explanation of Sexual Dimorphism
54
Dentition and Ornaments
59
Sexual Dimorphism and Growth Patterns
61
Sexual Dimorphism in Size and Behavior
62
Conclusion
64
AGGRESSION
69
Expression and Context of Aggression
71
Causes
74
Functions
76
Just How Aggressive are Primates?
78
Sex Differences in Aggression
85
DOMINANCE AND ALLIANCE
89
Definitions
91
Measurements
92
Correlations Between Measurements
97
Dominance Mounting and Grooming
98
Miscinceptions of Dominance
99
Alliance and Coalition
102
Leadership
103
AttenionStructure
104
Social Facilitation Coercion and Inhibition
105
ROLES
107
What is a Role?
109
What is Role Analysis?
110
Taxonomies of Roles
113
Dominance and Roles
114
Social Skills and Roles
115
KINSHIP THE TIES THAT BIND
119
Kinship the Ties that Bind
120
Differential Behavior and Social Dynamics
122
Kinship and Dominance
125
Male Emigration and Troop Fission
126
Kinship and Mating Patterns
128
Protoculture
130
Comparative Primate Kinship Systems
131
SOCIOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR
135
Breeding Seasons
138
Consorts
139
Bisexual Behavior and Homosexual Behavior
140
Female and Male Roles in Sexual Behavior
141
Sexual Bonds and Social Structure
144
Initiation of Consort Bonds
145
Maintenance and Termination of a Consort Bond
146
Mate Selection Aggression and Sexual Selection
147
Conclusion
149
FERTILITY VIRILITY HORMONES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEX DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOR
153
Continuity of Sex Differences in Behavior
176
Sex Differences in Behavior of Young Primates
178
Female Parental Care
179
Male Parental Care
188
Peers
192
Summary
195
DEPRIVATION
197
Sex Differences and Deprivation
201
Stress and Sex Differences in Behavior
205
Love and Sex Roles Made Simple
207
MULTIMALE MULTIFEMALE SOCIETIES
213
Introduction
214
MultiMale MultiFemale Primate Societies
215
The LifeWay of Japanese Monkeys Macaca fuscata
216
The LifeWay of Vervet Monkeys Cercopithecus aethiops
221
The LifeWay of Chimpanzees Pan troglodytes
225
References
232
POLYGYNOUS SOCIETIES
235
The LifeWay of Patas Monkeys Erythrocebus patas
238
The LifeWay of Nilgiri Langurs Presbytis jobnii
242
The LifeWay of Geladas Theropitbecus gelada
246
References
250
MONOGAMOUS SOCIETIES
251
The LifeWay of Marmosets Callitbricidar
253
The LifeWay of Dusky Titi Monkeys Callicebus moloch
257
The LifeWay of Siamangs Hylobates syndactylus
260
References
263
SEXUAL SELECTION FEMALE CHOICE OR HOBSONS CHOICE?
267
The Problems
269
Applications of Sexual Selection Theory to Nonhuman Primates
275
SOCIOBIOLOGICAL THEORIES AND SEX ROLES
285
The Levels of Selection
286
Kin Slection
288
Application of Kin Selection Theory to Nonhuman Primates
289
Reciprocal Altruism
292
Application of Reciprocal Altruism to Nonhuman Primates
293
Trivers Model of Parental Investment
294
Application of Parental Investment Theory to Nonhuman Primates
296
Female Strategies
297
Is Sociobiology Sexist?
298
Another Look at Reproductive Costs and Male Versus Female Investments
299
How Are We Fallen?
301
Conclusions
303
THEORIES ON THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SOCIAL LIFE
305
Baboonization The Common Baboon Model
306
What Our Ancestors Are The Gelada Model
312
Our Kitch and Kin The Chimpanzee Model
316
Conclusion
319
Subject Index
378
Copyright

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About the author (1992)

Linda Marie Fedigan is professor and Canada Research Chair in Primatology and Bioanthropology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is also the past Executive Editor of the American Journal of Primatology and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

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