#59 Peter Kappeler: Sexual and Mating Dynamics in Primate Species, Human Universals
Dr. Peter Kappeler is a Professor at the faculty of Zoology and Anthropology at Göttingen University, Germany, and at the Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology department at the German Primate Center. He also teaches as a guest lecturer at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. He’s the author or editor of books like Mind the Gap: Tracing the Origins of Human Universals, Animal Behaviour: Evolution and Mechanisms, and The Evolution of Primate Species.
In this episode, the conversation revolves around sexual selection in primate species, and human universals and the contributions of primatology to a better understanding of human behavior. Starting with the conditions to lead to the development of sexual dimorphisms, we then move on to talk about intersexual and intrasexual selection; the ecological conditions that favor male and female philopatry, that is, for males or females to stay in their troops of origin; pair-bonding in animals, and the problem with explaining monogamy; how sex ratios influence reproductive strategies; life history, and what it tells us about the evolutionary history of a particular species; primatology and the study of human universals; the relevance of the unique events in Homo sapiens’ evolutionary history; and also the studying of other animal taxa.
Time Links:
How sexual dimorphism develops?
Intersexual and intrasexual selection
Relation between sociality and sexual dimorphism
Female and male philopatry, and sociality
What favors pair-bonding in primates?
The problem with understanding monogamy
Sex ratios and reproductive strategies
The importance of life history in primate studies
Primatology and the studying of human universals
Humans’ evolutionary history, and differences between humans and other primates
How do other animal taxa contribute to studying human behavior?
Follow Dr. Kappeler’s work:
Faculty page: http://www.soziobio.uni-goettingen.de/en/kappeler.php
Books: https://tinyurl.com/yd6vb8zs