The evolution of sociality in primates. An inclusive fitness approach.

为了解释人类和非人类灵长类动物的社会性和合作性的进化，人类学家通常依靠言语模型。这种传统的方法最近被批评为过时和含糊，而且没有得到经验数据的很好支持。本项目采用包容性适应方法，旨在用灵长类社会进化的数学理论取代目前在人类学领域占主导地位的语言模型。这一正式的理论将得出清晰的、可检验的预测，将灵长类社会系统的变化与生活史和生态的可测量变化联系起来。我将首先对从最初的孤独生活方式到社交生活的转变进行建模，然后研究日益复杂的社会。我将特别关注群体内部和群体之间的竞争如何影响灵长类社会的规模和稳定性，以及合作行为的演变。此外，我将为女性接受同步性的进化提供第一个数学解释，并研究这一现象对灵长类(包括人类)社会进化的后果。最后，本项目还将使用灵长类动物的比较数据来测试对该理论的预测。该项目具有为下一代灵长类社会进化研究提供基础的巨大潜力，旨在将该领域与进化生物学更大领域的社会进化研究更紧密地联系起来。

To explain the evolution of sociality and cooperation in human and non-human primates, anthropologists generally rely on verbal models. This traditional approach has recently been criticised for being out-dated and vague, and not well supported by empirical data. Taking an inclusive fitness approach, the present project aims to replace the verbal models currently dominating the field of anthropology by a mathematical theory of primate social evolution. This formal theory will derive clear, testable predictions which will link variation in primate social systems to measurable variation in life-history and ecology. I will start by modelling the transition from an initially solitary lifestyle to sociality, and subsequently examine increasingly more complex societies. I will focus particularly on how competition within and between groups affect the size and stability of primate societies, and the evolution of cooperative behaviours. Moreover, I will provide the first mathematical account for the evolution of female receptive synchrony, and study the consequences of this phenomenon for the evolution of primate (including human) societies. Finally, the present project will also test predictions of the theory developed using comparative data across primates. This project has the great potential to provide the foundation for the next generation of research on primate social evolution, and it aims to link this field more closely with social evolution research in the greater field of evolutionary biology.