Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts

Michael L. Wilson; Christophe Boesch; Barbara Fruth; Takeshi Furuichi; Ian C. Gilby; Chie Hashimoto; Cat Hobaiter; Gottfried Hohmann; Noriko Itoh; Kathelijne Koops; Julia N. Lloyd; Tetsuro Matsuzawa; John C. Mitani; Deus C. Mjungu; David  Morgan; Martin N. Muller; Roger Mundry; Michio Nakamura; Jill Pruetz; Anne E. Pusey; Julia Riedel; Crickette Sanz; Anne Marijke Schel; Nicole Simmons; Michel Waller; David P. Watts; Frances  White; Roman Martin Wittig; Klaus Zuberbuehler; Richard W. Wrangham

doi:10.1038/nature13727

Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts

Michael L. Wilson, Christophe Boesch, Barbara Fruth, Takeshi Furuichi, Ian C. Gilby, Chie Hashimoto, Cat Hobaiter, Gottfried Hohmann, Noriko Itoh, Kathelijne Koops, Julia N. Lloyd, Tetsuro Matsuzawa, John C. Mitani, Deus C. Mjungu, David Morgan, Martin N. Muller, Roger Mundry, Michio Nakamura, Jill Pruetz, Anne E. PuseyJulia Riedel, Crickette Sanz, Anne Marijke Schel, Nicole Simmons, Michel Waller, David P. Watts, Frances White, Roman Martin Wittig, Klaus Zuberbuehler, Richard W. Wrangham

Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review

Abstract

Observations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal violence is sometimes concluded to be the result of adaptive strategies, such that killers ultimately gain fitness benefits by increasing their access to resources such as food or mates^1,2,3,4,5. Alternatively, it could be a non-adaptive result of human impacts, such as habitat change or food provisioning^6,7,8,9. To discriminate between these hypotheses we compiled information from 18 chimpanzee communities and 4 bonobo communities studied over five decades. Our data include 152 killings (n = 58 observed, 41 inferred, and 53 suspected killings) by chimpanzees in 15 communities and one suspected killing by bonobos. We found that males were the most frequent attackers (92% of participants) and victims (73%); most killings (66%) involved intercommunity attacks; and attackers greatly outnumbered their victims (median 8:1 ratio). Variation in killing rates was unrelated to measures of human impacts. Our results are compatible with previously proposed adaptive explanations for killing by chimpanzees, whereas the human impact hypothesis is not supported.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	414-417
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	513
Issue number	7518
Early online date	17 Sept 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13727
Publication status	Published - 18 Sept 2014

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© 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at http://www.nature.com.
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Klaus Zuberbuehler
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Wilson, M. L., Boesch, C., Fruth, B., Furuichi, T., Gilby, I. C., Hashimoto, C., Hobaiter, C., Hohmann, G., Itoh, N., Koops, K., Lloyd, J. N., Matsuzawa, T., Mitani, J. C., Mjungu, D. C., Morgan, D., Muller, M. N., Mundry, R., Nakamura, M., Pruetz, J., ... Wrangham, R. W. (2014). Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts. Nature, 513(7518), 414-417. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13727

@article{f39665b13cc7477295154759e6ab5ffa,

title = "Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts",

abstract = "Observations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal violence is sometimes concluded to be the result of adaptive strategies, such that killers ultimately gain fitness benefits by increasing their access to resources such as food or mates1,2,3,4,5. Alternatively, it could be a non-adaptive result of human impacts, such as habitat change or food provisioning6,7,8,9. To discriminate between these hypotheses we compiled information from 18 chimpanzee communities and 4 bonobo communities studied over five decades. Our data include 152 killings (n = 58 observed, 41 inferred, and 53 suspected killings) by chimpanzees in 15 communities and one suspected killing by bonobos. We found that males were the most frequent attackers (92% of participants) and victims (73%); most killings (66%) involved intercommunity attacks; and attackers greatly outnumbered their victims (median 8:1 ratio). Variation in killing rates was unrelated to measures of human impacts. Our results are compatible with previously proposed adaptive explanations for killing by chimpanzees, whereas the human impact hypothesis is not supported.",

author = "Wilson, {Michael L.} and Christophe Boesch and Barbara Fruth and Takeshi Furuichi and Gilby, {Ian C.} and Chie Hashimoto and Cat Hobaiter and Gottfried Hohmann and Noriko Itoh and Kathelijne Koops and Lloyd, {Julia N.} and Tetsuro Matsuzawa and Mitani, {John C.} and Mjungu, {Deus C.} and David Morgan and Muller, {Martin N.} and Roger Mundry and Michio Nakamura and Jill Pruetz and Pusey, {Anne E.} and Julia Riedel and Crickette Sanz and Schel, {Anne Marijke} and Nicole Simmons and Michel Waller and Watts, {David P.} and Frances White and Wittig, {Roman Martin} and Klaus Zuberbuehler and Wrangham, {Richard W.}",

note = "This study was funded by National Science Foundation grants BCS-0648481 and LTREB-1052693 and National Institutes of Health grant R01 AI 058715.",

year = "2014",

month = sep,

day = "18",

doi = "10.1038/nature13727",

language = "English",

volume = "513",

pages = "414--417",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature publishing group",

number = "7518",

}

Wilson, ML, Boesch, C, Fruth, B, Furuichi, T, Gilby, IC, Hashimoto, C, Hobaiter, C, Hohmann, G, Itoh, N, Koops, K, Lloyd, JN, Matsuzawa, T, Mitani, JC, Mjungu, DC, Morgan, D, Muller, MN, Mundry, R, Nakamura, M, Pruetz, J, Pusey, AE, Riedel, J, Sanz, C, Schel, AM, Simmons, N, Waller, M, Watts, DP, White, F, Wittig, RM, Zuberbuehler, K & Wrangham, RW 2014, 'Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts', Nature, vol. 513, no. 7518, pp. 414-417. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13727

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts

AU - Wilson, Michael L.

AU - Boesch, Christophe

AU - Fruth, Barbara

AU - Furuichi, Takeshi

AU - Gilby, Ian C.

AU - Hashimoto, Chie

AU - Hobaiter, Cat

AU - Hohmann, Gottfried

AU - Itoh, Noriko

AU - Koops, Kathelijne

AU - Lloyd, Julia N.

AU - Matsuzawa, Tetsuro

AU - Mitani, John C.

AU - Mjungu, Deus C.

AU - Morgan, David

AU - Muller, Martin N.

AU - Mundry, Roger

AU - Nakamura, Michio

AU - Pruetz, Jill

AU - Pusey, Anne E.

AU - Riedel, Julia

AU - Sanz, Crickette

AU - Schel, Anne Marijke

AU - Simmons, Nicole

AU - Waller, Michel

AU - Watts, David P.

AU - White, Frances

AU - Wittig, Roman Martin

AU - Zuberbuehler, Klaus

AU - Wrangham, Richard W.

N1 - This study was funded by National Science Foundation grants BCS-0648481 and LTREB-1052693 and National Institutes of Health grant R01 AI 058715.

PY - 2014/9/18

Y1 - 2014/9/18

N2 - Observations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal violence is sometimes concluded to be the result of adaptive strategies, such that killers ultimately gain fitness benefits by increasing their access to resources such as food or mates1,2,3,4,5. Alternatively, it could be a non-adaptive result of human impacts, such as habitat change or food provisioning6,7,8,9. To discriminate between these hypotheses we compiled information from 18 chimpanzee communities and 4 bonobo communities studied over five decades. Our data include 152 killings (n = 58 observed, 41 inferred, and 53 suspected killings) by chimpanzees in 15 communities and one suspected killing by bonobos. We found that males were the most frequent attackers (92% of participants) and victims (73%); most killings (66%) involved intercommunity attacks; and attackers greatly outnumbered their victims (median 8:1 ratio). Variation in killing rates was unrelated to measures of human impacts. Our results are compatible with previously proposed adaptive explanations for killing by chimpanzees, whereas the human impact hypothesis is not supported.

AB - Observations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) provide valuable comparative data for understanding the significance of conspecific killing. Two kinds of hypothesis have been proposed. Lethal violence is sometimes concluded to be the result of adaptive strategies, such that killers ultimately gain fitness benefits by increasing their access to resources such as food or mates1,2,3,4,5. Alternatively, it could be a non-adaptive result of human impacts, such as habitat change or food provisioning6,7,8,9. To discriminate between these hypotheses we compiled information from 18 chimpanzee communities and 4 bonobo communities studied over five decades. Our data include 152 killings (n = 58 observed, 41 inferred, and 53 suspected killings) by chimpanzees in 15 communities and one suspected killing by bonobos. We found that males were the most frequent attackers (92% of participants) and victims (73%); most killings (66%) involved intercommunity attacks; and attackers greatly outnumbered their victims (median 8:1 ratio). Variation in killing rates was unrelated to measures of human impacts. Our results are compatible with previously proposed adaptive explanations for killing by chimpanzees, whereas the human impact hypothesis is not supported.

U2 - 10.1038/nature13727

DO - 10.1038/nature13727

M3 - Letter

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 513

SP - 414

EP - 417

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7518

ER -

Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts

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