Mike Gurven: UCSBPersonality traits (i.e. behavioral syndrome or disposition) have now been documented in a large number of species, and account for substantial behavioral variation among individuals. How heritable variation in personality is generated and maintained in populations, however, remains a puzzle to evolutionary biologists. Despite the industry of personality research in humans, relatively little […]
Bernard Chapais: University of MontrealThe social structure of any species is an emergent biological phenomenon and as such it has an evolutionary history. The human social structure is no exception to that rule but it has an important peculiarity: it is hidden from view by its numerous cultural expressions. To circumvent the problem and characterize […]
Laura Fortunato: SFICompared to other species, humans show a remarkable degree of variation in family organization. This talk presents recent advances in the application of evolutionary thinking to the study of the human family, focusing on the evolution of monogamous marriage. First, I present the results of a game-theoretic model investigating the co-evolution of marriage […]
Martin Muller: University of New MexicoThe Kanyawara chimpanzees of Kibale National Park have been studied for 25 years, during which researchers have acquired a unique, 14-year longitudinal sample of hormonal data. Dr. Muller will draw on these data to discuss the role that testosterone plays in supporting male mating effort, the energetic costs of male-male […]
Dawn Neill: Cal Poly SLOUrbanization is proceeding rapidly in many developing countries as part of a larger process of development and involves the shift of rural residents to urban cities. The shift from a rural to urban ecology entails changes in patterns of food production and/or purchase, preparation, and consumption. Existing research has consistently demonstrated […]
Colin Holbrook: UCLAHumans are inclined to cherish their communities and derogate groups regarded as alien, particularly during times of threat. The capacity for threatening circumstances to exacerbate group prejudice holds both social relevance and theoretical interest, and has been widely discussed within psychology and evolutionary anthropology. Perhaps the most intensively studied experimental measure of group […]
Sergey Gavrilets: University of TennesseeHumans exhibit strong egalitarian syndrome, i.e. the complex of cognitive perspectives, ethical principles, social norms, and individual and collective attitudes promoting equality. The universality of egalitarianism in hunter-gatherers suggests that it is an ancient, evolved human pattern. The evolutionary emergence of this syndrome is one of the most intriguing unsolved puzzles […]
Robert Frank: CornellNote: this talk will begin at 3:30pm. Economists since Adam Smith have insisted that competition produces the greatest good for the greatest number. But as Charles Darwin emphasized, individual and group interests do not always coincide. And when they clash, individual interests tend to trump, often resulting in wasteful arms races. The Darwinian […]
Clark Barrett: UCLAThe capacity of organisms to deal with evolutionary novelty has been regarded by some as a puzzle. If adaptations have been shaped by natural selection operating in the past, then how can they possibly respond adaptively to objects, events, and situations that clearly did not exist until recently? This has been regarded as […]
Adrian Jaeggi: UCSBFood sharing is a vibrant field of study that has provided important insights into the evolution of cooperation, life history, and social learning. Common functional explanations for sharing include nutritional and informational benefits to offspring, tolerated scrounging, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and costly signaling. I review the most important findings regarding food sharing […]
