Overview

The Real Chimpanzee encapsulates the fascinating behaviour of wild chimpanzees and discusses the differences observed in different populations across the species, and across the many levels of their social behaviour. It explains why sex competition and predation pressures in a forest chimpanzee population made the females of the group highly social and gave the males a high level of within-group solidarity, making them very xenophobic towards outsiders. Love is what makes war possible. Christophe Boesch brings back to the table the debate over ecological pressures and social organization, and the influence they have over issues such as the evolution of warfare, co-operation, altruism and the position of females. Written in an accessible style for a general audience as well as for undergraduate and graduate students, he presents insightful views to give readers the background information to understand the struggle for survival of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, and through this to find some keys to the ever-so-intriguing question of what makes us human.

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9780511627132

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Reviews

'... an entertaining and personal ethnography ...' Primates

'... an entertaining and personal ethnography ...' Primates Boesch's provocative ideas will surely stimulate argument and new research. Anne E. Pusey, The Quarterly Review of Biology This work provides an accessible, informative summary of long-term chimpanzee field research from a tropical rainforest siteand its implications for understanding human social behavior. Recommended. R.A. Delgado Jr., Choice Magazine

Author Information

Christophe Boesch is Professor and Director of the Department of Primatology at the Max-Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

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