What Led To The Emergence Of Social Behavior

[HuckleB]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=38013

"Researchers have long reflected on that most intriguing of evolutionary questions: what led to the emergence of social behavior? Following observations of primates, our nearest evolutionary kin, many scientists have proposed that social alliances may have evolved as a means to stave off competitors for resources or mates.

A more recent theory however, suggests that social systems - including "positive" behaviors such as cooperation and interdependency - might have arisen as a kind of group defense mechanism against predators.

The "social-living prey" hypothesis will be the focus of a symposium entitled "Man the Hunted: The Origin and Nature of Human Sociality," on February 19. Featuring two prominent primate researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the symposium is an event of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Feb. 16-20.

As primates spend less than 10 percent of their time engaging in social interactions, most scientists have focused on aggressive and competitive behaviors to explain the complex social dynamics seen in many primate societies.

..."

[El Supremo]

1. Dogs taught it to us.

I'm serious!

:pals:

[DELUSIONAL]

2. Yes there is research to support this theory

And for those of us who have lived with dogs -- this is very believable theory.

Also -- the hunting/gathering part of human development. Gathering had been left out of the theories because this was primarily a female occupation/role -- and most of the Anthropologists were males.

Then if we look at the difference of innate male and female group behavior girls are more likely to perform tasks in a co-operative manner -- males are more competitive. This is research with young children -- and right now I don't have my books with me so that I could cite source research.

[Mythsaje]

3. You've got a point...

Our partnership with dogs certainly goes back a long ways, and how both species have influenced the other is an interesting study in itself.

[StClone]

4. Both were social creatures when Canine Domestication occurred

Survival skills of early hominids included being social prior to canine domestication from most accounts.

[bemildred]

5. Whatever it was ...

It must have taken the time to teach the baboons too.

[htuttle]

6. I think most of it comes from predator/prey interactions

Almost every social species uses their social skills to either defend against predators (as in herd animals, schools of fish, flocks of birds, lower primates) or to more effectively catch prey (pack hunters like wolves, dolphins, etc...).

Later on up the evolutionary ladder, I think other social interactions are built upon the ones developed for predator/prey reasons. There are many wolf social 'rules' that have little to do with hunting (such as the whole 'only the alpha pair breed' rule), but might have developed on top of the social framework for hunting.

For example, early on, the dominant 'proto-wolves' (in a the pack) were the ones who actually caught the prey. While they might initially growl at the other wolves who want some until they get their fill, that might change to allowing the other aggressive wolves a few bites right away, with the more timid wolves waiting until last, and a hierarchy develops spontaneously. Later on, this hierarchy extends to mating behavior.

Humans are interesting in that we seem to have social skills that stem from both herd-defense against predators (from our primate side) and for hunting more effectively (stuff we learned from pack hunters like wolves once we started eating meat regularly).

[Orsino]

7. A refinement of the bacterial survival scheme of...

...Throw bodies At It Until You Survive. Bigger organisms that have to cover a lot of territory to find food need to use their brains to cooperate, since they can't reproduce as rapidly.

Just another ecological niche to fill.