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10 - Adoption in the Taï chimpanzees: costs, benefits and strong social relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2019

By
Liran Samuni ,
Roman Wittig  and
Catherine Crockford
Edited by
Christophe Boesch  and
Roman Wittig
Edited in association with
Catherine Crockford ,
Linda Vigilant ,
Tobias Deschner  and
Fabian Leendertz
Christophe Boesch
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Roman Wittig
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Catherine Crockford
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Linda Vigilant
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Tobias Deschner
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Germany
Fabian Leendertz
Affiliation:
Robert Koch-Institut, Germany
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Summary

In a competitive environment, helping others at a cost presents a puzzle. Nonetheless, altruistic behaviour has been associated with human success as a species. Adoption, the provision of alloparental care to an orphan by an individual other than the biological mother, is a potential altruistic act in both humans and chimpanzees. We investigated potential benefits of adoption (like kin selection, improved reputation, or recruitment of allies) in a chimpanzee community with high adoption rates and alloparental care by adult males, who typically provide no paternal care to offspring. The probability of an adult male providing care to an orphan was connected to the grooming relationship/bond between male and mother before her passing and was not influenced by orphan sex or relatedness. The probability of positively interacting with orphans was negatively affected by the number of female bystanders. Results suggest that male–orphan interactions are not solely driven by reputation, ally recruitment, or kin selection and highlight the link between highly prosocial behaviours and social closeness.

Keywords

CooperationAlloparental careSocial bondsorphansPan troglodytesaltruism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Chimpanzees of the Taï Forest
40 Years of Research
 , pp. 141 - 158
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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