Comments on: Chimpanzee Food Sharing

By: Janis

Janis — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:46:03 +0000

I’m just not convinced it’s as simple as “food for sex.” I have a feeling that the females with a higher sexual appetite may be hanging around the fruit not because they want fruit, but because they want sex and that’s where most of the males are hanging out. And well, if they can get a bite of papaya in the bargain, they aren’t going to turn it down.

We’re all anthropomorphizing here, so I might as well use an example from another primate we all know and love. 🙂 Human females like to celebrate Valentine’s Day not because they get chocolate in return for sex, but because they get sex. The chocolate just comes along for the ride. “Giving it up for chocolate” is (like “giving it up for papaya”) a preposterous way of putting it. Unless the female primates in question are literally starving and need either chocolate or papaya to live, I think that the appetite for sex is a more significant driver.

Calling it prostitution is assuming that human hookers ply their trade in the hopes of getting pregnant, which I think we all agree is probably not their point. Mating strategies and prostitution are fairly far apart, especially in a group of species (primates) in which females are willing to mate at any time but are only fertile infrequently. Male primates may chance conception at any sexual encounter, but for female primates sex and reproduction are not as closely related.

Come on, people. Did you fail high school biology or what?

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:51:33 +0000

The main thing that chimpanzees hunt when they hunt is monkey. They especially like colobus and mangabey.

By: Stephanie Z

Stephanie Z — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:43:42 +0000

Tom, have you tried Googling “chimpanzees hunting monkeys” to find out whether yho is correct?

By: Tom Hennessy

Tom Hennessy — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:08:59 +0000

Quote: which I’m pretty sure apes eat given the chance
Answer: My sons gerbil ate her sibling. I suppose in the world of scientists THAT would make a gerbil a meat eater.
STRESS causes different emotional responses. The fact a few scientists witness aberrant behavior DOES NOT a ‘natural’ trait make.
Imho ..

By: Ewan R

Ewan R — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:51:42 +0000

I thought we were discussing apes, not monkeys (which I’m pretty sure apes eat given the chance, at least according to animal planet! (and previously BBC nature progs…)

By: Tom Hennessy

Tom Hennessy — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:14:01 +0000

I guess you missed the most recent research in which they tested different food CHOICES and sharing.
They didn’t mention meat probably because contrary to what you seem to WANT to believe .. monkeys DON’T eat meat.
They found the monkeys REFUSED TO EAT when offered BETTER food UNTIL the OTHER monkies TOO were fed the SAME ‘quality’ food.
The scientists opined “they must wait until we are gone to beat those that do not share and THAT is WHY they share” ..
Real scientific and biased towards their WISH for ‘lack of morality’ which seems to permeate through the ‘scientific’ community and therefore hopefully ALSO in the animal kingdom.
THAT they hope would give some justification for their OWN .. lack .. of morality.
Imho ..
Imho ..

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:42:10 +0000

Ewan … yes, IF the females are not in any way at all competing with each other. If they are, there is a non-zero cost.

By: Ewan R

Ewan R — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:36:37 +0000

#8 – I’d assume that unless the cost of acquisition is essentially zero it will always pay off to be the recipient – even at zero cost of acquisition it would probably be relatively safe to assume that obtaining more than you could otherwise obtain is likely to be better, in terms of your own (and your offspring’s) fitness (at least for the female – the male’s fitness depends on succesful mating therefore giving of food in this situation may impact actual survival negatively, but reproductive fitness positively)

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:59:20 +0000

Well, it is what they spend all day doing. There are times when it is plentiful, times when it is hard to find.

By: Arno

Arno — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:48:11 +0000

How difficult is it for chimps to aquire wild fruit? If the potential recipient of sharing could simply get her own fruit without significant effort, there seems to be little point in sharing.