Stepwise evolution of stable sociality in primates

Susanne Shultz (), Christopher Opie and Quentin D. Atkinson
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Susanne Shultz: Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, 64 Banbury Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6PN, UK
Christopher Opie: Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, 64 Banbury Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6PN, UK
Quentin D. Atkinson: Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, 64 Banbury Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6PN, UK

Nature, 2011, vol. 479, issue 7372, 219-222

Abstract: You scratch my back... Despite long-standing interest in explaining and describing diversity in primate social grouping patterns, the evolutionary history of primate sociality has received little attention. Recent advances in statistical methods allow trait changes to be explicitly modelled on phylogenetic trees and competing evolutionary hypotheses to be tested. Shultz et al. use Bayesian comparative phylogenetic methods to test competing theories for the evolution of social behaviour in primates. They conclude that large groups evolved directly from solitary foraging, with pair living and single-male harems being subsequently derived from the large groups. The shift from nocturnal to diurnal living is linked to the origin of sociality.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10601

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