Chimpanzees Exchange Meat For Sex

the_therapist writes "A team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, studied chimps in the Tai Forest reserve in Ivory Coast and discovered that chimpanzees enter into 'deals' whereby they exchange meat for sex. Among the findings are that 'male chimps that are willing to share the proceeds of their hunting expeditions mate twice as often as their more selfish counterparts.' They also found this to be 'a long-term exchange, so males continue to share their catch with females when they are not fertile, copulating with them when they are.'"

Comments

Same behavior in humans too

[grasshoppa]

We formulized it and called it marriage though.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[Jangchub]

+5 funny? That's robbery. +5 insightful.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[PachmanP]

We formulized it and called it marriage though.

Nah men formalized it and called it prostitution. Women started thinking about how to get more and put out less and that's how we got marriage.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[Gorobei]

Nah men formalized it and called it prostitution. Women started thinking about how to get more and put out less and that's how we got marriage.

Actually, it was probably the other way around: men formalized marriage in an effort to stop women sleeping around. Stability of the tribe, and all that (alpha males still get to sleep around, beta males get a better chance of their kid actually being theirs, the rest have no illusions.)

Sometimes I wish I could forget everything I've read on primate and avian mating patterns, it would make my life so much easier.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[tverbeek]

....and there is really only one reason to take a girl out on a date....

Because otherwise it gets really boring at the restaurant waiting for your order to arrive?

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[fractoid]

Always hard to confirm parentage if you don't have access to at least a basic lab.

Not if you trace maternal bloodlines.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[Gorobei]

Doubtful on the STDs: most animals use the "free sex approach" with minimal effect on fertility (actually, if an STD makes individuals infertile, that encourages sex with multiple partners.) Also, small breeding populations are not much affected by STDs: everyone is exposed, virulence is low. STDs go wild once you have big cities and travel (jets, wars, or pilgrimages, etc.)

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[YttriumOxide]

and there is really only one reason to take a girl out on a date....

It's comments like this that lend a strong argument as to why the stereotype of geeks never having girlfriends exists. Sex is great, and I enjoy it immensely, but I'd never consider it the "one reason" to be with a girl. It's great to share your thoughts with someone, have them share theirs with you; someone to laugh with, cry with; someone to look after you when you need it and give you the chance to look after them when they need it. My compatibility with a girl on ALL of these things is what I'm looking for when I go on a date with a girl, not just whether she'll put out at the end of the night.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[kklein]

I've read up to 10% of children's dna do not match their fathers in many areas, so that's another strategy- happened to at least one friend of mine

Ugh, I can't say anything, but I really suspect this has happened with my brother's youngest. His wife got weird about the time he was born and then left him a little over a year later, out of the blue. The kid doesn't look like anyone on our side of the family, and has personality traits (like athletic ability) that neither side has. She cheated on him a bunch of times while they were dating, and then twice (that we know of) since they got married (they are, of course, divorcing now).

It's rough because, emotionally, he's already a wreck, and he has done most of the raising of the youngest and is a very proud parent. We all love that kid to death. But still... I just don't think he's "one of us."

I've decided to keep my mouth shut. Kid needs a family no matter what, and we like having him around. He shouldn't be punished for his mom being a dumb slut.

Re:Same behavior in humans too

[jacqdesign]

I can't resist making a comment... I think your comment is actually an example of why geeks don't have a girlfriend. A non geeks requirements for a girl are far less. Will they have sex with me? Yes. Do I want to have sex with them? Yes. Boom they got a girlfriend. Meanwhile here you are, the geek, wanting a girl to do that and have thoughts to share, similar sense of humor, to take care of you etc. That's a much longer requirement list to have out of the gate.

Having said that, your approach is probably the more rational one by far, and more satisfying when you do get the girlfriend, but geeks go for quality, not quantity. Non geeks, it's all about quantity till you hopefully find that quality.

I wanted to comment with something funny about how I have tried to buy many women a good steak dinner for that same reason, but somehow evolution clearly affected women faster then it did me. I kept trying, not very many women were buying. Sometimes evolution sucks.

Oldest profession?

[Anenome]

Damn, we call it the 'oldest profession' and had no idea just how far back it went :P

Isn't this survival of the fittest?

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems an objective way to see if a potential mate has the capability of bringing home the bacon (sorry for the pun), thereby being a good indicator on whether the male could provide for a family that would result from copulation (unless they have safe sex ;) ).
If the male chimp doesn't have enough to share, he isn't probably very good at getting food - and you wouldn't want to propagate those genes. Did they check whether the chimps that shared the most also gathered the most?
So why is it being made to sound like prostitution, when it clearly is more like survival of the fittest - the female bangs the best male?