Peter Fashing: CSU Fullerton Department of Anthropology

Given that animal societies represent a collection of genetically selfish individuals that have come together to live and reproduce as part of a group, conflicts over the allocation of resources essential to survival and reproduction must routinely occur. For groups to remain stable over evolutionary time, these conflicts must be resolved to the satisfaction of all group members – that is, the benefits of group life must outweigh the costs. In this talk, I will describe my past, present and future research into the costs and benefits of group living for individuals and groups of wild primates, including colobus and gelada monkeys, in East Africa, and discuss how insights gained from non-invasive, observational sampling of primate behavior and ecology can shed light on the evolution of group living in humans and other animals.
http://www.bec.ucla.edu/Fashing1.pdf