Robin Dunbar: "What's so social about primate sociality?"

10 May 16:00
64 Banbury Road, Oxford
robindunbar

Professor of Evolutionay Psychology.
Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford University.
Research Associate, Nuffield College, Oxford University.
Co-Director, British Academy Centenary Reasearch Project.

 

Talk abstract: Exactly how and why primate sociality is different to that of other animals has long puzzled everyone. I will make the case that primate's pecualiarly bonded form of sociality arose because of a tradeoff betwenn trying to minimise predation risk and the costs incurred in terms of reduce fertility: with these two creating a series of glass ceilings that could only be breached in order to achieve larger group sizes by evolving new kinds of behaviour & cognition needed to underpin thesse.

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