Edited by P.C. Lee Cambridge University Press 1999 PREFACE Comparative studies have become both more frequent and more important as a means for understanding the biology, behaviour and evolution of mammals. Historically, studies of primate socioecology have been in the forefront of the field and many interesting methodological developments in comparative socioecology have emerged from earlier work. This is not to say that other animals have not been examined - for example, there are excellent studies of seals, carnivores and ungulates, not to mention extensive work on birds. But primates are particularly interesting in that they have complex social relationships and diverse ecologies, as well as representing a large radiation of morphologies. Socioecology, as used here, is taken to represent the interactions between characteristics of the resource base, its mode of exploitation, reproductive biology and life history, and the observed social system. In this sense, primates can be considered as a test case for hypotheses that the solutions to ecological problems have a social root. Thus, the chapters in this book seek to explore the diverse relations between sociality and resources, mating systems, energetics and reproduction. Questions of biological or physiological constraints on sociality are also examined. Since the 1987 publication of Primate Societies by Smuts et al., field researchers have added greatly to our knowledge of primate social systems and ecological variation, and this book attempts to synthesise some recent work. It is perhaps notable that the socioecology of the primates is not approached with a taxonomic structure here. Rather, this book tries to cover less well-known species that have been the focus of recent field studies, and specific issues that are of current theoretical interest for primates as diverse as femurs and humans. EDITOR'S NOTE: Comparative studies have become both more frequent and more important as a means for understanding the biology, behaviour and evolution of mammals. Primates have complex social relationships and diverse ecologies, and represent a large species radiation. This book draws together a wide range of experts from fields as diverse as reproductive biology and foraging energetics to place recent field research into a synthetic perspective. The chapters tackle controversial issues in primate biology and behaviour, including the role of brain expansion and infanticide in the evolution of primate behavioural strategies. The book also presents an overview of comparative methodologies as applied to recent primate research that will provide new approaches to comparative research. It will be of particular interest to primatologists, behavioural ecologists and those interested in the evolution of human social behaviour. P.C. Lee is a lecturer in Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Downing College. She began field work on baboons in 1975 and has maintained an interest in the socioecology and behaviour of primates and other large mammals ever since. She has written numerous papers and has co-edited three previous volumes on primates - Primate Euolution, Primate Ecology and Conservation and Primate Ontogeny, Cognition and Behaviour (all 1986) - and has coauthored The Threatened Primates of Africa (1988). CONTENTS List of contributors iv Preface xii Part 1 Comparative methods 1 1. The comparative method: principles and illustrations from primate socioecology 5 Ann MacLarnon 2. Cladistics as a tool in comparative analysis 23 Kate Robson-Brown 3. Phylogenetically independent comparisons and primate phylogeny 44 Andrew Purvis and Andrea J. Webster Part 2 Comparative life history and biology 71 4. Socioecology and the evolution of primate reproductive rates 73 Caroline ross and Kate E. Jones 5. Comparative ecology of postnatal growth and weaning among haplorhine primates 111 Phyllis C. Lee 6. Some current ideas about the evolution of the human life history 140 Nicholas Blurton Jones, Kristen Hawkes, and James F. O'Connell 7. The evolutionary ecology of the primate brain 167 Robert Barton 8. Sex and social evolution in primates 204 Carel P. Van Schaik, Maria A. Van Noordwijk, and Charles L. Nunn 9. Mating systems, intrasexual competition and sexual dimorphism in primates 241 J. Michael Plavcan Part 3 Comparative socioecology and social evolution 271 10. Lemur social structure and convergence in primate socioecology 273 Peter M. Kappeler 11. Why is female kin bonding so rare? Comparative sociality of neotropical primates 300 Karen B. Strier 12. Energetics, time budgets and group size 320 Daisy K. Williamson and Robin Dunbar 13. Ecology of sex differences in great ape foraging 339 Allison Bean 14. Hominid behavioural evolution: missing links in comparative primate socioecology 363 Robert A. Foley 15 Evolutionary ecology and cross-cultural comparison: the case of matrilineal descent in sub-Saharan Africa 387 Ruth Mace and Clark Holden Editor's conclusion Socioecology and social evolution 406 Index 410 WHERE TO ORDER: Customer Service Department Cambridge University Press 110 Midland Avenue Port Chester, NY 10573 U.S.A. Residents of the United States, Canada, and Mexico may Phone: 1-800-872-7423 Fax: 914-937-4712 Web site: http://www.cup.org E-mail: orders@cup.org PRICE: Paperback (0-521-00424-1): $39.95 Hardback (0-521-59336-0): $74.95
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