In this book, Hans Kummer, one of the world's leading primate
ethologists, examines the patterns of social interaction among
primates. He examines this social behavior from the fundamentally
biological viewpoint of evolutionary adaptation as part of the
survival mechanisms for the species. Recognizing that all activity
is constituted in part of genetic programming and in part of
adaptive behavior, he explores the borderline area between the
genetic and the "cultural." By use of astute observation and clever
experimentation he shows that many aspects of social behavior are
inherited, and differentially inherited among various primate
groups. These data also show, however, that the individuals and
troops learn much in primate social life and that these forms are
responsive to particular ecological situations. Drawing heavily on
knowledge gleaned from his own well-known studies of the Hamadryas
baboon, Dr. Kummer introduces the reader to the daily life of a
particular primate society. From this sample case, he proceeds to a
more general characterization of primate societies, using as
examples the great apes and monkeys of Africa, Asia, and South
America and particularly the widely studied terrestrial monkey
species. The particularities of primate communication, social
structure, and economy are described and special attention is
devoted to the primate counterparts of kinship and age
groups-behavioral differences based on age and sex, and mating and
grouping systems. This is followed by a chapter dealing with the
ecological functions of the major parameters of primate social
life, such as group size and the coordination of activities within
it-dominance, leadership systems, and spatial arrangements. The
second part of the book is concerned with the origins of behavioral
traits of primates, discussed from phylogenetic, ecological, and
cultural points of view, again using data-based examples. Dr.
Kummer explains why some traits have not evolved that would have
been adaptive, and traces the rise of several secondary functions
in their place. The final section of- the book confronts man with
his fellow primates, emphasizing the probable limits imposed upon
human culture by the existing phylogenetic heritage.
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