Kin‐Directed Behavior in Primates
Title
Kin‐Directed Behavior in Primates
Author
Berman, Carol M.
Research Area
Social Interactions
Topic
Primate Studies
Abstract
Kinship was one of the first foundational principles of primate social organization to be recognized and to be viewed within an explicit evolutionary framework, specifically kin selection theory. Over time we have come to appreciate how much kinship structures and kin preferences vary between and within species, and how they are constrained by demography, life history characteristics, ecology, and mechanisms for recognizing kin. We have only recently discovered that many species are able to recognize paternal kin and to express preferences for them, but we have much to learn about how individuals do this, and how they make choices among different classes of kin and nonkin. Many potential benefits of close kin relationships have been uncovered, and some have been firmly linked to fitness benefits. Questions about kin selection versus mutualism or reciprocity as an explanation for kin preferences continue to pose challenges. Recent empirical studies support the operation of kin selection, but suggest that it may extend only within fairly narrow limits of relatedness. Much current theoretical research focuses on modeling the ways in which kinship interacts with dispersal patterns, reproductive skew, habitat saturation, and other ecological and life history patterns to produce various selective regimes related to cooperation. Some recent promising theoretical models of the origins of human social systems also rely in part on principles of kin selection and on a greatly expanded understanding of kin‐related behavior in nonhuman primates.