Cooperation in Primates and Humans

Cooperative behavior has been one of the enigmas of evolutionary theory since the days of Darwin. The contributions to this book examine the many facets of cooperative behavior in primates and humans. Some of the world's leading experts summarize and review the state of the art of theoretical and empirical studies of cooperation. This is the first attempt to bridge the gap between parallel research activities in primatology and studies of humans. This comparative approach highlights both common principles as well as aspects of human uniqueness with respect to cooperative behavior.

"Cooperative behavior has been one of the enigmas of evolutionary theory since the days of Charles Darwin. The contributions to this book examine the many facets of cooperative behavior in primates and humans as some of the world's leading experts review and summarize the state of the art of theoretical and empirical studies of cooperation. This book is thus the first to bridge the gap between parallel research in primatology and studies of humans. Comparative as this approach is, it highlights both common principles and aspects of human uniqueness with respect to cooperative behavior."

Cooperation in primates and humans: closing the gap.- Kinship.- Practicing Hamilton's rule: kin selection in primate groups.- Kinship, competence and cooperation in primates.- Reciprocity.- Reciprocal altruism: 30 years later.- Simple and complex reciprocity in primates.- Reciprocal exchange in chimpanzees and other primates.- Causes, consequences and mechanisms of reconciliation: the role of cooperation.- Mutualism.- Cooperative hunting in chimpanzees: kinship or mutualism?.- Toward a general model for male-male coalitions in primate groups.- Cooperative breeding in mammals.- Non-offspring nursing in mammals: general implications from a case study on house mice.- Biological Markets.- Monkeys, markets and minds: biological markets and primate sociality.- Digging for the roots of trading.- Cooperation in Humans.- Reputation, personal identity and cooperation in a social dilemma.- Human cooperation from an economic perspective.