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Are humans cooperative breeders?: Most studies of natural fertility populations do not support the grandmother hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2010

Beverly I. Strassmann  and
Nikhil T. Kurapati
Beverly I. Strassmann
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. [email protected]@umich.edu
Nikhil T. Kurapati
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. [email protected]@umich.edu
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Abstract

In discussing the effects of grandparents on child survival in natural fertility populations, Coall & Hertwig (C&H) rely extensively on the review by Sear and Mace (2008). We conducted a more detailed summary of the same literature and found that the evidence in favor of beneficial associations between grandparenting and child survival is generally weak or absent. The present state of the data on human alloparenting supports a more restricted use of the term “cooperative breeding.” Human stem family situations with celibate helpers-at-the-nest can be described as cooperatively breeding, but the term is a poor fit to many human family systems.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 35 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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