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Similarities between humans and chimpanzees
Similarities between humans and chimpanzees
Similarities between humans and chimpanzees
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Writing Response 3
In Franz De Waal’s book Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes, social interactions between the chimpanzees at the Arnhem Zoo in Holland are examined. De Waal spends time observing the lives of these animals and comparing them and their ‘culture’ to human culture. The book follows a power struggle between the three dominant male chimps, Yeroen, Luit, and Nikkie. The book does not exclude female chimps and talks about how they influence the role the alpha males play.
De Waal frequently explains how chimpanzees’ interaction has parallels when compared to human interaction. He leads me to believe that chimps do have culture. While culture in chimpanzees isn’t as easy to observe as human cultures there are different behavioral trends that vary between primate communities. These trends include things like how they obtain their food and how they communicate with each other. The three alpha males show culture when they vie for power just as humans have leaders that continually vie for power within their social groups or work place. The female chimpanzees in the ...
Next of Kin tells the story of a man’s life and how it was forever changed once he was asked to become an assistant for a research project with chimpanzees. The story spans over several decades of work. It is very emotional and telling. The book allows the reader to have an intimate understanding of how the research was conducted, as well as how the world had viewed and treated chimpanzees at the time which Fouts was involved in the Washoe project.
"Primate Social Relationships: Adults and Infants." Primate Social Relationships: Adults and Infants. N.p., Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Primates housed in organizations like zoos and laboratories have developed catastrophic behavior; due to the lack of their natural habitat and the lose of freedom to pursue their own lives. Chimpanzees have directed themself to attempt abnormal and often revolting behavior. During their life in captivity they exibit biting themselves, drinking urine, eating feces, pating genitals, rocking, plucking hair, and fumpling niples (Birkett and Newton-Fisher). Another factor that gives chimpanzees
Rollin, Bernard E.. “The Ascent of Apes — Broadening the Moral Community”. In The Great Ape Project. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1993. pp.206-219.
This information reveals that the problems the gorillas face have been addressed and formally recognized. It exposes our blatant ignorance, and mans corruption of the gorilla’s land that has made these apes so scarce in numbers. The information also shows that these are not violent or confrontational creatures. In fact, they avoid human activity altogether. Although we have tried implementing laws to protect them, encroachment laws are only slowing a critical problem, rather than insuring the apes repopulation (De Vere et al.,
Thesis Statement: Despite the rampant protests of animal welfare organizations on encaging primates in zoos since primates typically show abnormal behavior, zoos in the National Capital Region claim that human interaction and enrichment programs help alleviate the stress and trauma primates experience.
There has been an age long debate to whether or not primates have culture. This is based on the idea that primates may have certain behaviors that our taught rather than already being programmed in their minds biologically. Some would argue that a certain action that a primate does wouldn’t necessarily be something that primate was born knowing; but others would argue that it was something that was something they knew in their subconscious mind. Notable arguments that would be in favor of culture in primates would include their use of tools, how a primate eats, and how they interact; arguments against the theory of culture in primates would proclaim that a primate’s habits are determined biologically and not affected by outside sources.
Do non-human primates have communication, language, both, or neither? By definition, communication is the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information (Snowdon). Communication is very closely related to social behavior since they are both referring to the ways animals interact with each other (Quiatt and Reynolds 1993). Conversely, language is defined as a system of communication using sounds or gestures that are put together in meaningful ways according to a set of rules (Haviland et al. 2010). Non-human primates and human primates are similar in many ways, and communication is no exception. They both have various types of communication senses and styles. Human primate communication senses consist of sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. Non-human primates mainly understand the world through sight, but smell, taste, and hearing are important as well (Quiatt and Reynolds 1993). Human primates are capable of speaking a language, while non-human primates use different vocal calls to communicate. In essence, the difference is simple, human primates have language while non-human primates do not. Even though non-human primates do not have language, they do have communication.
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
Primates are a big topic in anthropology that is crucial for us to learn and study about. Anthropologists study primates from an evolutionary viewpoint as well as an ecological viewpoint, focusing mainly on their behaviors, their natural environment, and their psychological traits. Behavior is known to be evolved from the operation of natural selection. Behavioral genetics is how genes can affect our behavior, which can viewed as a product of complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Social structure influences individual behavior, which can blur the distinctions between social and individual behavior.
Chimpanzees portray their emotions through a number of facial expressions and mannerisms. Just like humans, they undergo mood swings, jealous rages, and laughter. For instance, Goodall observed during her research that a male gorilla “would threaten [me] with an upward and backward movement jerk of his head…” Some of their emotions are easy to read, while at other times we have to look at multiple places on their faces to understand their feelings. A chimpanzee also uses its facial expressions and sounds to communicate with each other, such as hoots and yells.
Primate socioecology studies the impact of ecology on the social behavior of primates. A socio-ecological model focuses on the behavioural trends in individuals and the resulting social system that arises as a result (Schaik, C. et al., 1996). Another main principle of socioecology is to understand the evolution of social systems, including group characteristics and the social to mating dynamics. The theoretical framework of socioecology concentrates on the concept of traditionally largely impacting ecological factors especially predations risk and resource distribution. This framework is supported by a multitude of tests correlating with the specific predictions from the model (Kappeler, et al., 2003). Socioecology was first demonstrated in
Inside the chimp habitat, I noticed a sign which read: Look here for a “zoo” born! When I saw it, I recalled that earlier during the day, a senior docent named Rhonda who worked with the gorillas had told me that there was recently a newborn chimp. She said to look very closely to find the baby because the mother was extremely protective of it. She had also mentioned that the newborn’s furless skin would be very pink. At first, I looked very keenly for the small new chimp who had just been born this year, but I couldn’t find it. I finally spotted the baby after I moved to a different position to view the chimps from the open air viewing area. The infant was just as Rhonda had described it: nestled in its mother’s arms as she shielde...
In his lecture, primatologist Robert Sapolsky explains the uniqueness of humans as well as our similarities to other primates. In doing so, he broke it down into six points of interest: aggression, theory of mind, the golden rule, empathy, pleasure in anticipation and gratification postponement, and lastly, culture. Professor Sapolsky approaches each point with interesting fact-based examples thus allowing me to gain insight on humans and other primates. Sapolsky’s knowledge of primates along with his scientific background allows him to make a clear argument that one cannot simply ignore.
The scene where alpha and beta males are given watermelons but the females are not shows some similar behaviors between human and chimpanzee. For instance, the alpha male’s behavior to express dominant by displaying his watermelons to the other chimpanzees show his desire to elicit envy and jealousy. Although it seems selfish for the alpha male to not share his bounty with the female chimpanzees, it is a behavior that essentially reminded the female chimpanzees of the dominant role resume by the alpha. Similarly, with modern human, the behavior to express oneself with extravagant possessions such as named brand clothing and expensive materials is a behavior that can be compared to the alpha male chimpanzee. Wealth and material possession with